What to Expect When You're Arrested (in San Antonio)
I'm a criminal defense attorney in San Antonio. When I was in my early 20s, I was arrested for DWI. I had no idea what to expect or what was going on with my case because my attorney didn't let me know what to expect. Now that I'm an attorney, I want to make sure that you don't have to go through the same experience that I did. This podcast will let you know what you can expect to happen at the different stages of your case. Even though it focuses on how cases in San Antonio are handled, it will be helpful even if you're charged somewhere else. If you've been arrested for DWI, assault, possession, or anything else, you probably have many questions about what will happen in your case. You'll probably have more questions while your case works through the system. This podcast will answer many of your questions.
What to Expect When You're Arrested (in San Antonio)
Why You Need An Attorney for Misdemeanors, What Does Assault - Married Mean
If you have any questions about this or if you're being charged with a crime, feel free to call me at 210-405-6410 or click here to schedule a free consultation.
https://seanhenricksen.com/schedule-consultation/
The legal aftermath of a criminal charge—even a misdemeanor—can haunt you for years if you don't take proper action. Drawing from both professional expertise and personal experience, I share why misdemeanor charges deserve serious attention and proper legal representation.
My own DWI charge from my early twenties followed me through job applications, law school admissions, and attorney licensing because I didn't understand my options for record cleaning. This experience drives my passion for helping clients avoid similar pitfalls. Family violence cases particularly demand careful handling, as Texas law imposes consequences more severe than many felonies—permanent record stains, lifetime firearm restrictions, and significant custody implications.
Most people don't realize that "family violence" extends far beyond marriage to include dating relationships, co-parents, and even roommates. A college dormitory dispute could potentially carry devastating legal consequences under Texas law. While most charges allow for record sealing after successful completion of deferred adjudication, family violence cases with that formal finding remain permanently on your record unless dismissed or won at trial.
San Antonio's recent 12% decrease in homicides contrasts with the politically-motivated approach to family violence arrests, where officers often feel pressured to make arrests regardless of circumstances. This explains why over half of misdemeanor family violence cases here eventually get dismissed—but not before causing significant disruption to lives and livelihoods.
Knowledge truly is your best defense. If you're facing criminal charges in San Antonio, especially involving family violence allegations, contact the Sean Hendrickson Law Firm at 210-405-6410 or through our website to schedule a free consultation. We'll map out a strategic game plan to protect your rights and your future.
If you have any questions about this or if you're being charged with a crime, feel free to call me at 210-775-0852 or click here to schedule a free consultation.
https://seanhenricksen.com/schedule-consultation/
Click the link below to receive 4 Things You Should Do If You've Been Arrested:
https://bit.ly/3tDOVbt
.
.
.
#SanAntonioLawyer
#TXLawyer
#BexarCountyLawyer
#CriminalDefenseLawyerSanAntonio
#CriminalDefenseLawyerTX
#CriminalDefenseLawyerBexar
#SeanHenricksenLawFirm
#SanAntonioLawyerFreeConsultation
#Lawyer
#CriminalDefenseLegalAdvice
#CriminalDefense
Advertisement
Sean Henricksen Law Firm
sean@seanhenricksen.com
210-405-6410
106 S. St. Mary's St., Ste 445
San Antonio, Texas 78205
www.seanhenricksen.com
Hi and welcome back to another episode of what to Expect when You're Arrested. This is your host, sean Hendrickson. I'm a criminal defense lawyer here in San Antonio, texas, and this show is brought to you by the Sean Hendrickson Law Firm, where we help good people like you avoid the devastating consequences of criminal charges. Today we're going to be looking at a few different topics. We want to look at some legal questions that we get asked all the time, wrap up with some timely updates from things that are happening here in San Antonio. Before we get to that, I do want to mention we do have a free download for you. It's five things you should be doing right now if you've been arrested. There's a link down in the show notes and if you click on that link, we will send that right out to you, and we do also have a link down there for a free consultation. So if you are being charged with a crime here in San Antonio, feel free to click on that link, schedule a consultation with us. We will talk all about your case, let you know how we can help you out and even kind of map out a game plan for you on how we can attack this case.
Speaker 1:The first thing that I want to talk about is I get asked a lot of times do I need a lawyer if it's just a misdemeanor? The short answer to that is absolutely you need a lawyer, even if it's a misdemeanor, especially if you're looking at something like a DWI or family violence cases, because those can have serious consequences with you later on. A lot of people think that a misdemeanor is going to be a lower level offense, which it is, and most people don't actually have to do jail time on misdemeanors, which is also true. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it seriously If you were to end up on probation, if you don't successfully complete probation or if you pick up another charge which I know none of us are planning on picking up new charges, but we didn't plan on picking up the charge that you're on probation for either. If that happens, they can revoke your probation and sentence you to jail, and if that happens, then you have to go to the Bexar County Jail to serve that time, and that is not a good place to have to serve time. You absolutely want to avoid that, if you want to, and you also don't want this following you around for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:I know because when I was younger, in my early 20s, I was charged with a DWI and I did get a lawyer, but I didn't know that I can get my record cleaned up after that case was over, because my case was actually dismissed. And if I would have known that, I could have avoided so much headaches, because every time I went to apply for a job I'd always have to mark off saying I'd been arrested for that DWI, not knowing how it was going to affect me getting that job. When I applied for law school, when I got licensed as an attorney, I had to disclose that all because I didn't get my record cleaned up. And you want to make sure that you have an attorney who not only is going to help you get your case to a point where it can be cleaned up, but is also going to let you know that you can and when you can, so that that case doesn't follow you around for the rest of your life. In family violence cases, which are mostly misdemeanors, it's even more important that you get an attorney, because the consequences on family violence cases, even misdemeanors, is worse than many felony cases, because if you are found guilty or if you take a deal and that judge makes that finding that you committed an act of family violence, there are gonna be a lot of other consequences. You will never be able to get that taken off of your record. You will never be able to own a gun ever again. If you're ever charged with a family violence case in the future, it's going to be bumped up to a felony. And if you have a child and if there's ever a custody issue in that child, the judge in that custody case is going to look at that finding of family violence when making a decision about whether or not you get custody and how much custody you get. And so, even if you are facing a misdemeanor charge, it's very important that you speak with an attorney and find somebody who's going to help you out, because we don't want you having all of those negative consequences.
Speaker 1:Another question that I hear all the time is people who are being charged with different types of family violence cases. Mainly it's when they see a charge against them or it's like assault, bodily injury married or assault bodily injury family member. In either of those situations I always have people who are contacting me. They're like I wasn't married to them or, you know, it was just my roommate and basically that's going have. Just to break that down. The first part is just that you are being charged with an assault case. An assault case can be anything from a threat to offensive contact with somebody, or if you either injure or put somebody into pain. Any of those is gonna be an assault. And what that married or family member part means it just means that this is going to be a family violence case. It doesn't actually raise the level of offense. So a normal assault is going to be a class A misdemeanor. Assault against a family member is also still going to be a class A misdemeanor, but it does bring in all of those other consequences that I spoke about in the last segment, about cleaning up your record and owning a gun and custody and things like that.
Speaker 1:But in Texas, family violence and dating violence actually have very broad meanings. It can be a family member and that could be somebody related by blood, by marriage or adoption. It could be somebody that you're dating or have children with, or it can even be just roommates. So if you're in college and you get in a fight with a roommate and the police accuse you of assaulting that roommate, that could have huge consequences on your future later on, and so, again, it's important to understand what that means and it's important to find an attorney who can help you out with that case.
Speaker 1:Lastly, I wanna talk about whether or not you can get a family violence case sealed or expunged in Texas. With most types of cases in Texas, if you complete deferred adjudication, the case gets dismissed and you can actually get your record sealed later on On family violence cases. That is not possible. If you've got a family violence case, the only way you can clean up your record if they make that finding that you committed an act of family violence is by beating that case and getting it dismissed or taking it to trial and winning at trial. There are a couple of other situations, like pre-trial diversion or specialty court, that may get your case to a point where you can clean it up even if you can't get your case dismissed. But they're gonna require a lot more work out of you and are gonna take a lot longer to successfully complete, and you definitely wanna talk with your attorney about those options too, to see if they would apply to you and see if they would be good options for you.
Speaker 1:I also wanted to talk with you about something that I saw in the news earlier this week San Antonio actually had a decline in homicides In the first half of 2025, homicides are actually down a little over 12%, and it's important to remember that violent cases in San Antonio, or even nationwide, are not as common as the media wants you to think. You know a lot of times, if you watch the news, what they're going to show you is you know a lot of times, if you watch the news, what they're going to show you is you know murders and assaults and things like that. They want to show violent crime because that's what gets people's attention and that's what gets people to watch the news, and so if you've heard that if it bleeds, it leads, that is definitely true when, in reality, violent crime is actually down right now throughout the country and including San Antonio. Having said that, it's also important to understand that family violence cases in particular, have become very political, and I hear regularly from police that if they get called out, somebody's going to go to jail, because the city right now is in a position where they want to take a strong stance against family violence cases and what that is really leading to is not a decrease in family violence but that's leading to bad arrests.
Speaker 1:We see officers arresting the wrong person all the time in family violence cases because when they get there, it's generally a he said, she said type of a situation and they have a hard time finding out what actually happened because one or both of those parties may not be telling the complete truth. And so we see all the time when somebody is acting in self-defense and defending themselves and they end up getting arrested when they were the victim and the other person was assaulting them. They were just protecting themselves. We also see lots of situations where the other person didn't do anything, not even in self-defense, but when the police get out there and the other person lies about something, then the police takes them in because the other person was the one that called 911. And so we see a lot of bad arrests, and that's why it's important to understand that when you look at the stats for the amount of arrests, it's not indicative of actually what is going on. When we look at family violence cases, in particular here in San Antonio, especially at the misdemeanor level, we are seeing way more than half of those cases getting dismissed because of so many reasons, including bad arrests.
Speaker 1:I hope that this was helpful information for you. Today we broke down whether misdemeanors require legal help, what assault and bodily injury to a family member really means and how record sealing works in Texas. We also covered a local headline to underscore the importance of understanding your rights and understanding what is going on in the local area. I appreciate you listening, because knowledge is your best defense and if you or someone you know is dealing with any cases in San Antonio, especially if it's a family violence case, definitely reach out to us here at the Sean Hendrickson Law Firm. You can call us at 210-405-6410 or you can click on that link down in the show notes and schedule a consultation directly with us. We would love to talk with you about your case, answer any questions that you have and let you know how we may be able to help you out. I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you next week.