Texas Felony Charges Lawyer

A felony charge does not decide how your case ends. The Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy defends felony charges across Texas, from state jail felonies to first-degree cases carrying decades in prison.

We have handled more than 6,000 criminal cases and secured dismissals in over 1,000 of them. That record shows us how prosecutors build these cases and where they tend to fall apart.

As a Texas felony charges lawyer, our approach starts with the specific degree of felony you face and the evidence the state has gathered against you.

How Do We Defend Felony Charges in Texas?

Richard C. McConathy takes on felony cases directly, and he has done it for more than 35 years in Texas courts. You work with him, not a rotating group of paralegals or junior associates.

Numbers do not decide your case, but they show what a felony defense practice looks like day to day. Our record includes:

• More than 6,000 criminal cases handled across Texas courts
• Over 1,000 of those cases ending in dismissal
• Direct attorney access from your first phone call through your final hearing
• Free consultations and 24/7 phone availability for felony arrests

None of those numbers replace a real conversation about your specific charge. They explain why clients call us before they say anything else to police or prosecutors.

We Take Cases to Trial When a Case Does Not Resolve

A felony case does not always settle through a plea deal, and some should not. When the evidence supports a trial, Richard prepares the case as if it will end in front of a jury, not just a negotiation table.

We take felony cases from Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, and Parker counties, along with other jurisdictions through our statewide Texas practice.

What Are the Felony Degrees in Texas?

Texas law sorts felonies into five levels under Texas Penal Code Chapter 12, running from state jail felony at the bottom to capital felony at the top. Each level carries its own prison range and fine ceiling.

A state jail felony sits closest to a misdemeanor in daily practice, but it still leaves a permanent felony conviction on your record. A capital felony sits at the opposite end and applies only to a narrow set of offenses, such as murder committed under specific aggravating circumstances.

Several elements move a charge from a lower degree to a higher one before a case ever reaches trial. Prosecutors and grand juries weigh factors including:

• Use or exhibition of a deadly weapon during the offense
• The dollar value of property involved in a theft or fraud charge
• The age of the victim, particularly in assault or sexual offense cases
• Serious bodily injury suffered by the victim
• A prior felony record, which the next section covers in detail

Any one of these factors moves a case from a state jail felony into a much higher punishment range. The specific facts of your arrest matter more than the charge listed on the initial police report.

Why the Degree of Your Charge Shapes Your Defense Strategy

A third-degree felony and a first-degree felony built on the same underlying facts call for different strategies. Lower-degree cases often open the door to probation or a reduced plea, while higher-degree cases demand a harder look at the evidence itself, since the exposure at trial is too high to treat casually.

What Happens If You Have a Prior Felony Conviction in Texas?

A prior felony conviction raises the punishment range for a new felony charge under Texas Penal Code Section 12.42. One prior final conviction moves a third-degree felony into second-degree punishment, and a second-degree felony into first-degree punishment.

Section 12.42 spells out how much a prior record raises the stakes. The enhancement rules include:

• One prior felony conviction bumps a third-degree charge to a second-degree punishment range
• One prior felony conviction bumps a second-degree charge to a first-degree punishment range
• Two prior felony convictions, each final before the next offense occurred, trigger a range of 25 to 99 years or life
• State jail felonies generally fall outside this particular enhancement scheme
• A prior conviction must be final, meaning appeals have run their course, before a court applies it

These rules turn what looks like a routine second offense into a first-degree case overnight. The timing and finality of a prior conviction need close review early in a new case.

What Sequential Finality Means for Your Case

The law requires the first conviction to become final before the second offense happened, not just before the current trial. A defense built on this timeline sometimes knocks an enhancement out entirely, which changes the punishment range a jury even considers.

How Long Do Prosecutors Have to File Felony Charges in Texas?

Texas sets a three year deadline for most felonies under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 12.01, though certain offenses carry longer deadlines or none.

The filing deadline depends entirely on the type of felony involved. Texas law sets these general categories:

• No deadline for murder, manslaughter, and most sexual assault offenses
• Ten years for theft by a fiduciary or public servant, forgery, and arson
• Seven years for most fraud, tax, and money laundering offenses
• Five years for theft, robbery, kidnapping, and burglary
• Three years for any felony not listed elsewhere in the statute

Missing one of these deadlines bars prosecution in most cases. Defense counsel checks the filing date against the offense date on every felony case, not only the ones that look old.

Exceptions That Extend the Deadline

DNA evidence and the age of a victim at the time of the offense both extend certain deadlines beyond the general categories above. These exceptions are technical and case-specific, so an attorney needs to confirm which version of the statute applied on the date of the offense.

What Happens After a Felony Arrest in Texas?

A felony arrest in Texas moves through booking, a magistrate hearing, and grand jury review before a court sets a plea date or trial date.

Each stage after an arrest adds a new deadline and a new decision point. The general sequence looks like this:

• Booking and an initial bail hearing, generally within 48 hours of arrest
• A magistrate reading the charges and setting conditions of release
• Grand jury review, which decides whether an indictment moves forward
• Arraignment, where you enter an initial plea before the court
• Plea negotiations or a trial setting, depending on the evidence and the charge

A lawyer retained at booking has more room to negotiate than one retained after indictment. Early involvement often shapes what evidence the grand jury sees in the first place.

What a No-Bill Means for a Felony Case

A grand jury that declines to indict returns what Texas courts call a no-bill, and the felony charge stops there unless prosecutors resubmit new evidence later. Reaching that outcome usually depends on what the defense presents to the district attorney before the grand jury ever meets.

FAQs for the Texas Felony Charges Lawyers at the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy

Call a Texas Felony Charges Lawyer Before Your Next Court Date

A felony charge in Texas keeps moving whether you respond to it or not. Court dates arrive, deadlines pass, and the state builds its file with or without input from your side.

Richard C. McConathy has spent more than three decades representing Texans through this kind of pressure, from the first bail hearing through trial when a case goes that far. 

A call to our office starts with a free review of your charge, the county it was filed in, and where your case sits in the process.