Houston, TX asked in Criminal Law and Sexual Harassment for Texas

Q: How do I get identifying information on a case I found on this website? My boyfriend and his dad have the same name.

Also if I have case #’s for m boyfriend how do I get the specifics on the case? What happened and dialogue when case was tried?

2 Lawyer Answers

A: Contact the clerk of the court where the case was filed. If it was a felony filed in District Court then you'll be contacting the District Clerk, it was filed as a Class A or Class B misdemeanor then check with the County Clerk. If it was a felony that was pled down to a misdemeanor it could be in either place depending on how it was handled. If it was a Class C misdemeanor it MIGHT be in one of those other places but it is far more likely to be in the office of the clerk of the Justice of the Peace Court or with the clerk of the Municipal Court for the city where it was filed.

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A: You're wanting to see (read) the "dialogue when case was tried." Now if the case was actually tried (as most of us understand what a trial is), your boyfriend would have pleaded "Not Guilty" before a judge or a jury. In Texas, the "dialogue" of a trial is called the "Statement of Facts". Almost everything said in the courtroom by the participants is taken down word for word either by a court reporter or by electronic recording device. If the defendant is found not guilty on all his cases, the Statement of Facts is almost never typed up so that it can be read.

Generally speaking, the Statement of Facts is only prepared when the defendant is found guilty in one or more of his cases and he desires to appeal the conviction(s). Even when a case is appealed, there are many types of appeal that do not require that the complete Statement of Facts be prepared. A full-blown Statement of Facts can be incredibly expensive, quickly running into the thousands of dollars for even a trial as short as 2-3 days.

Most cases these days, sadly, result in pleas of guilty. A guilty plea is usually a very short trial and the Statement of Facts for most guilty pleas can cost as little as $75-$250. Anyone who wants to read what happened at a guilty plea "trial" can contact the court reporter and pay for the Statement of Facts to be prepared.

The above applies to trials in county and district court, not usually in municipal (ticket) courts, although nowadays more and more city courts are corts "of record", meaning Statements of Facts can be prepared there as well.

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