Injury to Child Defense Lawyer Houston TX

If you are charged with injury to child in Houston, Texas, contact criminal defense attorney Carl Haggard today at 832-328-0600 for a free consultation about your case.

Injury to Child Case Victories

INJURY TO CHILD
Case No. 1673820 – Daisy V.

DISMISSED August 20, 2021

Daisy was having a physical altercation with her son’s father in their apartment parking lot. A witness looking through a window called 911 & reported he observed her hitting her son who fell & began crying; he verified to police his mom had hit him. We won this by arguing from body worn camera evidence, the 911 call, & other witness testimony from those closer to the incident. We also used CPS records & the absence of visible injuries (although not necessary for a charge to bolster our arguments for Dismissal.

INJURY TO CHILD
Case No. 1524832 – Danny T.

GRAND JURY NO BILL February 22

Danny spanked his 2-yr old over her diaper when she threw a tantrum then purposely spilled a drink in a dental office waiting room. Several hours later her mom found a bruise in the shape of a handprint which investigators said appeared to be more than “just discipline”. Mom took her to the ER and related Danny’s history of violence; CPS got involved. We won using social media evidence to demonstrate Danny had raised valid concerns about possible abuse of the child by her mom’s new boyfriend before the incident. We also used photo evidence and scene recreation to sufficiently demonstrate the handprint could not have been made by Danny.

INJURY TO CHILD
Case No. 1445875 – Nancy G.

DISMISSED October 15

Child Protective Services, police and prosecutors styled this as a case of inadequate supervision with an inconsistent explanation of the injury and alleged Nancy had acted out of anger: Her children were tugging over toys when her 1-year-old fell down one step and injured his arm. Nancy was nearby but did not realize he had injured his arm. When she calmly grabbed him by that arm to lift him up and out of the fray his body rotated, causing a spiral fracture. We overcame all the prosecutorial theories and proved by Nancy’s actions after the accident and the medical records that both injuries were accidental and not reckless. We also proved via witness testimony she was a careful mother and that she had not acted in anger.

Mr. Haggard fought for me and refused to give up – he said we had a good defense and he believed in my innocence. He has a lot of medical knowledge and studied the medical records and x-rays and argued all the points until the prosecutors dismissed it just before trial. I chose Haggard Law Firm because Mr. Haggard is a former District Court Chief Prosecutor – I wanted someone who had been at the top on the inside – and he had the most experience and best track record in this kind of case. Thanks to him I got my children back!
– Nancy

INJURY TO CHILD UNDER 15 – 3^rd DEGREE FELONY
Case No. 1459396 – Rolanda D.

DISMISSED by our 1^st Court Appearance March 30

Rolanda had been having problems with her 12-yr-old son on the bus and in the neighborhood. She tried to spank him but he wouldn’t be still for it so she slapped him in the face, leaving a red mark, which was observed at school causing the police and CPS to get involved. Our preparations included obtaining documentation on her son’s discipline problems to explain the background. The DA’s read out erroneously at Probable Cause court that she had also punched Complainant. Despite this error the case was dismissed on the grounds that a slap is not enough probable cause for an injury.

INJURY TO CHILD UNDER 15 – 3RD DEGREE FELONY
Case No. 1242215 – Laura M.

DISMISSED while set for Jury Trial

This case involved emotionally-disturbed – yet manipulative – stepchildren, (which we had to sufficiently prove), a nasty divorce and ongoing custody proceedings, and a jealous, scheming ex-wife. The Complainant was Laura’s stepdaughter, who told her things like, “I don’t like you; I want my mom and dad back together.” All of this was a set-up for disaster when, while Christmas shopping in the mall, the seven-year-old Complainant/stepdaughter went to the bathroom on herself. Laura took her into the store bathroom to clean her up and gave her a spanking: she had a frequent history of acting out and doing such things on purpose when she didn’t get her way. The other stepdaughter overheard the crying during the spanking and both told their mother Laura had slammed her face into the bathroom wall. A bruise appeared later on Complainant’s cheek the size of a quarter of which the prosecution claimed they possessed “indisutable photographic evidence”. The children told CPS Laura put make-up on her face to cover it the same day. Laura admitted to the makeup – but not for camouflage. Complainant’s younger sister, with a known school record for aggression, had hit her in the car on the way home after the bathroom episode – and we had witnesses to this as well – but we weren’t out of the woods yet. The 3 stepchildren lied to police detectives and to CPS in several taped interviews, saying Laura had told them to “beat each other up”, so whether Laura inflicted the wound or the sibling had – either way it was Laura’s fault. Overall, there were just too many disturbing lies told by the stepchildren for a facile resolution of this case. We struggled valiantly nevertheless to overcome them all. We subpoena surveillance video from the store which provided clear evidence only that Laura and Complainant entered and exited the bathroom and that Complainant’s hand was hovering near her face as they exited. The DA’s exclaimed, “There; she’s rubbing her bruised cheek!“ We had several eyewitnesses to the event, including one of Laura’s own children, who testified that her hand went to her face to wipe away tears with a tissue after her deserved spanking – not to rub her “smashed face”.

Due to the lies, the machinations of the mother over visitation, the ongoing custody proceedings in family court, and the number of witnesses involved, this complex case lasted over a year. In our policy of omitting nothing that could help our defense, we filed Briefs on a No Contact Order, worked with Amended Conditions of Bond issues, a civil court Protective Order, obtained certified copies of the divorce and custody proceedings in preparation for Trial, filed Evidence, Witness and Expert Disclosures, Discovery and a slough of other Trial Motions. The mother denied visitation during the pendency of the case and so we had to work with the family and criminal law courts to obtain Temporary Orders for Visitation; unstoppable, she then tried to get CPS to revoke vistation on the basis of her children’s lies… A major breakthrough in the case happened when Mr. Haggard shrewdly advised Laura’s husband to bring the stepchildren to our office and successfully and ethically obtained written confessions from them which we planned to use in Court in admissible form. We thought we had victory in our hip pocket when, after we arranged a meeting between prosecutors and the Complainant, the Complainant reverted to her former lies; the DA’s quite naturally said it had been coerced. Weakened but not prostrated, we continued the fight continued until better heads prevailed in the DA’s office who declined to go against Mr. Haggard at Trial fearing his cross-examination would give the lie to the lies.

Mr. Haggard and his staff have been praised over and over again at our home. When I was notified by police concerning the case my heart sank. I was in total shock and very scared. I didn’t hesitate when I read Mr. Haggard’s website. I contacted the office and immediately decided to retain him to help prove these allegations were completely false. Dealing with children, stepchildren, spouses, Mr. Haggard must have a great amount of patience, wisdom and understanding for the family unit and tis great importance. He accepted my case and helped to keep our family from being torn apart by a jealous, angry ex-spouse. We did exactly as Mr. Haggard instructed: ‘Take a deep breath and understand this is a process…’ When things got rough Mr. Haggard and staff were always there to explain and calm the situation. Without their guidance and great experience and knowledge of the criminal and family court systems, I’m not sure how things would have ended. But it is just that – THE END – my case was dismissed !!! with the persistence and guidance of Mr. Haggard, who never backed down or wavered before the Houston DA’s Office. He is a wonderful and very knowledgeable attorney.

Thank you God for leading us to Mr. Haggard and blessing him with the knowledge and wisdom to guide his clients and protect them to the very end.
~ Laura M. [via email]

INJURY TO CHILD
Case No. 1153203 – Shacresha R.

DISMISSED

Shacresha opened the door to police holding a knife in her hand in self-defense from her teenaged son who had attacked her. Police, angered by her statement that they had not helped her despite several prior calls to them on similar incidents, wrote in the Offense Report that she said she was going to kill her son. We presented sufficient evidence to the Grand Jury – injuries to our client and her home from her son, eyewitness testimony to this and prior violent incidents, documentation of her son’s history of violent acts – that they found our client not guilty.

INJURY TO CHILD

Case No. 1105664 – Ulises A.

DISMISSED

Our client was accused of spanking his 6-year-old stepson with a belt in punishment for his disruptive behavior at school. Police observed marks on the child’s back and arm consistent with a belt, which was tagged into evidence after photographs were taken and the child stated that the blows had caused him pain. Mr. Haggard was able to obtain a Dismissal using evidence, among other legal defenses, that the punishment had been appropriate and some blows fell on the child’s back due to the child’s squirming.

INJURY TO CHILD
Case No. 1067182 – Ejaeta T.

GRAND JURY NO-BILL

Our client was babysitting a boy having trouble walking; at the ER he was found to have a spiral fracture of the thigh and our client was accused. Although doctors and the prosecutors did not believe our client, the evidence did not add up, which Mr. Haggard skillfully proved. Further, Mr. Haggard obtained medical testimony supporting the probability that the injury was older than claimed. Mr. Haggard also made the right call in allowing our client to testify before the Grand Jury, something he does not always recommend, even though most defendants are eager to do so. Finally, Mr. Haggard used his experience to carefully prepare our client for the Grand Jury.

Mr. Haggard believed in my case and that I was telling the truth. He encouraged me to go before the Grand Jury. And the outcome was so successful.
~ Ejaeta T.

INJURY TO CHILD

Case No. 1057260 – Faraz S.

DISMISSED

Faraz was a good and concerned stepfather who used judiciously-administered corporal punishment, which he also uses on his own children, treating all equally. However, the stepson had emotional problems and played the victim game off his mother’s sympathies as well as to police. Mr. Haggard, having had a great deal of experience with manipulative children in cases like this, informed Farza about the best way to deal with CPS, and what to do to increase our chances of a Dismissal. Faraz followed Mr. Haggard’s instructions wihch helped him to obtain a Dismissal prior to setting it for trial.

INJURY TO CHILD
Case 885401 – Reginald J.

DISMISSED AT PRE-TRIAL MOTION HEARING

Reggie was a gentle individual who often played with his girlfriend’s young child. After the child was found by doctors to have very serious injuries, he was charged with this offense so completely out of line with his character. Reggie maintained his innocence so we aggressively pursued a Pre-Trial Dismissal. We were ready to take the case to Trial but Mr. Haggard won a Dismissal during Motions based in part on his proving that there was a lack of sufficient evidence, medical and otherwise, to find beyond a reasonable doubt that our client had injured the child.

DID YOU KNOW… ?
Injury to Child, Child Abandonment, or Child Endangerment cases are INELIGIBLE to be sealed after a deferred Dismissal. Moreover, if you have ever pleaded guilty to an Injury to Child, Child Abandonment, or Child Endangerment case you thereby render yourself INELIGIBLE to have any FUTURE case, no matter what the offense, sealed. [TEX. GOV’T CODE Sec.411.081 (e)(1)-(4)]