By Allen, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer Kyle T. Therrian
Office Number: (972) 562-7549
24 Hr Jail Release: (214) 403-6522

Statistics are intriguing. Each year the Texas Office of Court Administration (“OCA”) publishes criminal justice statistics for counties across the state, including Collin County. This article discusses the Collin County Misdemeanor statistics for the year 2013. This article also comes with the following stipulation: there is no formula to making the ultimate decision on how to resolve a criminal case. Statistics have their place but they also have their limits. For instance, statistics can tell us that the odds of a DWI dismissal and drawing a four-of-a-kind in 5-card poker are pretty similar. On the other hand, statistics tell us very little about immeasurable qualities that make cases ripe for a motion to suppress, jury trial, or judge trial.

For those who prefer to look at raw data or check my math, immediately below are the links to the 2012 and 2013 OCA reports. Please note that this article is now open for comment should any errors or improper assumptions exist.

2012 Stats – Misdemeanor

2013 Stats – Misdemeanor

Misdemeanor Offenses Overall:

• 8,456 number of dispositions*
• 8,359 number of new cases filed excluding motions to revoke/adjudicate
  
• 414      number of trials 240 judge trials, 174 jury trials
• 203     total number of “not guilty” verdicts 149 judge trials, 54 jury trial
• 211       total number of “guilty” verdicts 91 judge trials, 120 jury trial
• 2,927  number of cases resolved by deferred adjudication**
• 953      number of cases dismissed
• 49.0% percent of trials with “not guilty” verdicts 62.1% judge trials 31.0% jury trials***
• 11.3%   percent of cases dismissed
  
• ↓637    fewer cases filed than in 2012
• ↓386    fewer cases disposed than in 2012
• ↓8.9%  point decrease from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 39.9% to 31.0%
• ↓4.0% point decrease from 2012 – deferred adjudication dispositions 38.6% to 34.6%

Driving While Intoxicated – First Offense

• 1,661   total number of cases disposed*
• 165      total number of trials
• 51.5% percent of all trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
• 78.9% percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
• 28.1% percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty verdicts
• 1.7%    percent of cases dismissed possibly due to motions to suppress evidence****
• ↓2.9% point decrease from 2012 – all “not guilty” verdicts 54.4% to 51.5%
• ↓5.2% point decrease from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 33.3% to 28.1%

Driving While Intoxicated – Second Offense

• 327       total number of cases disposed*
• 28          total number of trials
• 46.4%   percent of all trials resulting “not guilty” verdicts 
• 81.8%   percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
• 23.5%   percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
• 1.5%      percent of cases dismissed possibly due to motions to suppress evidence.****
• ↓28.6% point decrease from 2012 – all “not guilty” verdicts 75% to 46.4%******
• ↓32.1%  point decrease from 2012 -jury  “not guilty” verdicts 55.6% to 23.5%******

Possession of Marijuana

• 1,419   total number of cases disposed*
• 11          total number of trials
• 18.2%  percent of all trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
• 20.0% percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
• 16.6%  percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
  
• 52.2% percent of cases resolved by deferred adjudication
• 8.2%    percent of cases resolved by dismissal
• ↓28.5% point decrease from 2012 – all “not guilty” verdicts 46.7% to 18.2%******
• ↑16.7% point increase from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 0.0% to 16.7%******
• ↓3.3%   point decrease from 2012 –  deferred adjudication dispositions 55.5 to 52.2
• ↓0.3%   point decrease from 2012 – dismissals 8.5% to 8.2%

Assault

• 206       total number of cases disposed*
• 34          total number of trials
• 55.9%   percent of all trials with “not guilty” verdicts
• 54.5%   percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
• 58.3%   percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts
  
• 39.8%   percent of cases resolved by deferred adjudication
• 16.5%    percent of cases resolved by dismissal
• ↓12.9%  point decrease from 2012 – overall “not guilty” verdict 68.8% to 55.9%******
• ↓27.4% point decrease from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 85.7% to 58.3%******
• ↓7.2%   point decrease from 2012 – deferred adjudication dispos. 47.0% to 39.8%
• ↓0.2%   point decrease from 2012 – dismissals 16.7% to 16.5%

Assault – Family Violence

• 521       total number of cases disposed*
• 47         total number of trials
• 76.6%  percent of trials with“not guilty” verdicts
• 88.6%  percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts***
• 41.7%   percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
  
• 42.4%  percent of cases resolved by deferred adjudication
• ↑12.6% point increase from 2012 – all “not guilty” verdicts 64.0% to 76.6%
• ↓3.8%   point decrease from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 45.5% to 41.7%
• ↑1.7%   point increase from 2012 – deferred adjudication dispos. 40.7% to 42.4%
• ↑6.1%   point increase from 2012 – cases resolved by dismissal 21.0% to 27.1%

Theft

• 1,458    total number of cases disposed*
• 24          total number of trials
• 41.7%   percent of trials with “not guilty” verdicts 
• 42.9%   percent of trials before the court resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
• 40.0%  percent of jury trials resulting in “not guilty” verdicts 
  
• 54.1%   percent of cases resolved by deferred adjudication
• 7.9%     percent of cases resolved by dismissal
• ↑20.3% point increase from 2012- all “not guilty” verdicts 21.4% to 41.7%******
• ↑15.0%  point increase from 2012 – jury “not guilty” verdicts 25.0% to 40.0%******
• ↓3.5%   point decrease from 2012 – deferred adjudication dispos. 57.6% to 54.1%
• ↑0.1%    point increase from 2012 – dismissals 7.8% to 7.9%

*Office of Court Administration (“OCA”) reports a larger number of dispositions than is used by this article. It is unclear exactly how OCA calculates “Total Cases Disposed,” and whether the OCA “Total Cases Disposed” category includes the disposition of motions to revoke probation. The only methods of disposing a new case is by conviction, acquittal, deferred adjudication, pretrial diversion, and dismissal. The disposition numbers used in this article equal use a summation of all these categories.

** According to the OCA Website FAQs cases disposed by “pretrial diversion” are reported as “deferred adjudication.” It is noteworthy that when the total number of cases under this section is added together with “deferred adjudication,” “dismissals,” and “acquittals,” it produces a number much greater than the total number of cases disposed. Two possible explanations for this incongruity: (1) some cases which are disposed of with deferred adjudication in 2013 invariably result in a motion to revoke probation in 2014 which could lead to jail time or a switch to “standard” probation, (2) the “Local Jail” category could include cases in which a person is required to serve a short jail sentence as a term and condition of probation. This article assumes that the numbers reported in the category “Deferred Adjudication” are accurate despite the incongruity with the numbers under the category “Sentencing Information”.

*** This is an example of one way in which numbers can be misleading. Frequently, legally deficient cases are resolved by very brief trials before the court, especially when both sides acknowledge the deficiencies exist. These numbers would seem to suggest that defendants have a better chance in a trial before the court even when the case is litigated to its fullest extent by the State. This is not necessarily true.

****Collin County District Attorney’s Office seems to have an unspoken “no dismissal” policy on DWI’s, unless forced to do so when all of the evidence is suppressed by virtue of an unconstitutional search or seizure.

******Smaller sample sizes result in numbers which fluctuate drastically from year to year.

*Kyle Therrian is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice. For legal advice on any case you should contact an attorney directly.