Houston Aggravated Assault Lawyer — The State Must Prove Both Locks

There is a box on a State of Texas dismissal form that prosecutors hate to check. In one of our files, it’s checked: COURT FOUND NO PROBABLE CAUSE — 184th District Court, Harris County.

That box is not our claim. It is the prosecution’s own filed surrender — signed by the State, allowed by the court. And it sits in a file cabinet three blocks from the courtroom where it was signed.

Houston logged 6,577 aggravated assaults in the first six months of 2026 — one roughly every forty minutes, more than San Antonio and Dallas combined. Each of those cases arrived at 1201 Franklin Street carrying two to twenty years of exposure under Texas Penal Code §22.02. Or five to ninety-nine, or life, when the Legislature’s newest first-degree door applies. The machine was already running before the person charged ever saw a courtroom. An officer who wasn’t there when it started called a Harris County prosecutor you will never meet, and that prosecutor approved a charge off the State’s menu.

But here is what the paperwork already knows. The State must complete a checklist. Serious bodily injury, or a deadly weapon. Prove one of two locks beyond a reasonable doubt. An incomplete checklist is a dead case. The State doesn’t dismiss out of mercy. It dismisses when it can’t win.

Michael D. Mercer began his career at the Harris County DA’s office — he has been on both sides of an intake decision. He knows how the State builds a case because he helped build them. Since 2012, this firm has walked into 1201 Franklin more than three thousand times, and the vast majority of those cases ended the same way: dismissed. Our office is at 917 Franklin Street, Suite 550 — three blocks from the courthouse doors, a four-minute walk. When you call (713) 208-7682, the lawyer who answers is the one whose name goes on the filings. Not a paralegal. Not a call center. The consultation is free, any hour.

The consultation is free, any hour. (713) 208-7682.

01 · THE CHARGE

What the State Must Prove Under §22.02

Read the statute the way a defense lawyer reads it: not as a threat, but as a checklist. Two locks. The State needs both.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits assault as defined in Sec. 22.01 and the person:
(1) causes serious bodily injury to another, including the person’s spouse; or
(2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §22.02(a) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

That is the entire door to aggravated assault. An assault — any assault — plus one of two aggravating facts. Miss either one and the charge dies. The predicate assault has three modes of its own:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another, including the person’s spouse;
(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury, including the person’s spouse; or
(3) intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §22.01(a) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

Injury. Threat. Offensive contact. Three paths to a base assault charge, each with its own proof problems. Add the aggravation — serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon — and the exposure jumps to felony stakes. But the aggravation is a second lock the State has to turn. And that lock is where cases break.

The deadly-weapon definition is the one that decides real cases, because it reaches almost any object:

(17) “Deadly weapon” means:
(A) a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or
(B) anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §1.07(a)(17) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

Prong (A) covers guns and knives — the objects designed for harm. Prong (B) is the one that reaches everything else: cars, boots, bottles, and in one case we defended, a motorcycle helmet. The statute says “in the manner of its use.” The State doesn’t get to assume the object was deadly. It has to prove HOW it was used. That showing fails more often than the charging paperwork suggests.

And “serious” has its own legal definition — not a hospital chart, not an adjective:

(46) “Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §1.07(a)(46) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

A bruise is “bodily injury” — physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition (§1.07(a)(8)). A misdemeanor-level fact. Serious bodily injury is a substantial risk of death, death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss. Medical records decide where that line falls — not the prosecutor’s adjectives, not the charging instrument’s label.

Here is the newest law no ranking page in the Houston market carries: effective September 1, 2025, the 89th Legislature widened the first-degree door again. §22.02(b)(4) now makes aggravated assault first-degree — 5 to 99 or life — when “the actor commits the assault as part of a mass shooting,” using the §1.07(a)(30-a) definition added by H.B. 4504, effective January 1, 2025. One sentence on this page. Currency as proof of care, not as scare-framing.

In one case, our client was charged with aggravated assault by using a motorcycle helmet. That is not a joke about the law — it IS the law. And the manner-of-use rule cut both ways.

Bring us the charging instrument. We’ll tell you what the State can actually prove.

Houston assault defense — the parent charge →

02 · THE RANGE

What a Completed Checklist Costs

Degree	Prison Range	Fine	When It Applies
Second degree (default)	2–20 years	Up to $10,000	SBI to anyone, or use/exhibition of a deadly weapon (§22.02(a))
First degree	5–99 or life	Up to $10,000	DW + SBI to family/dating/household member (§22.02(b)(1)(A)); DW causing TBI/spine injury → persistent vegetative state or irreversible paralysis (§22.02(b)(1)(B)); against public servant, witness, informant, crime reporter, process server, security officer, civil-commitment personnel (§22.02(b)(2)); motor-vehicle firearm discharge (§22.02(b)(3)); “mass shooting” (§22.02(b)(4), eff. 9/1/2025)
Enhanced first degree	5–99 or life	Up to $10,000	One prior final felony conviction + second-degree agg assault → punished as first degree (§12.42(b))

Source: TEX. PENAL CODE §§22.02, 12.32, 12.33, 12.42(b) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

The row no one shows. In FY2025, Texas courts dismissed 30.6% of aggravated assault cases — Office of Court Administration. The State doesn’t dismiss out of mercy. It dismisses when it can’t win. That number is not a promise about any single case. It is the rate at which the system’s own ledger says the checklist breaks.

And the costs run past the range. A completed checklist takes more than years:

• Firearm rights. Texas §46.04(a): a felon cannot possess a firearm for five years after release from confinement or supervision — and after that, only at the premises where the person lives. Federal 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1): any felony punishable by more than one year triggers the bar, and that clock does not reset the way Texas’s does. The courts upheld these prohibitions again in 2024 (United States v. Rahimi).
• Probation. CCP art. 42A.054(b)–(c): if a deadly weapon was used or exhibited, judge-ordered community supervision is off the table — and that finding SHALL be entered in the judgment. The fight over the word “deadly” IS the fight over your future. Deferred adjudication (art. 42A.101) remains available in the right case.
• The record. Dismissed or acquitted → expunction under CCP Chapter 55A, effective January 1, 2025. But where family violence attaches, the finding can never be sealed — even after deferred adjudication. The record fight and the dismissal fight are the same fight. That is why everything on this page aims at one outcome.

Dismissed is step one. Erased is the finish line.

Expungement & nondisclosure — erase the record →

03 · THE PAPERWORK · 184TH DISTRICT COURT

The State Has a Form for Giving Up

This is not our claim. It is the prosecution’s own filed surrender — the 184th District Court Motion to Dismiss, shown whole, with the box checked: ☒ COURT FOUND NO PROBABLE CAUSE. A magistrate read the charge, set bond, and signed the order. The State put its reasons in writing. The court allowed the dismissal. We keep copies.

And here is the interlock no competitor can copy: CCP art. 55A.053(a)(2)(D) — a dismissal reflecting “mistake, false information, or other similar reason indicating absence of probable cause” is, by statute, an expunction entitlement. The checked box and the expunction statute name the same thing. The artifact and the law point at the same door: the case ends, and the record can be erased.

Only the State can dismiss. That is not opinion — it is statute:

The attorney representing the State may, by permission of the court, dismiss a criminal action at any time upon filing a written statement with the papers in the case setting out his reasons for such dismissal, which shall be incorporated in the judgment of dismissal. No case shall be dismissed without the consent of the presiding judge.
— TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 32.02 (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

Also in the files: the AFM Motion to Dismiss — ☐ REQUEST OF COMPLAINING WITNESS. The Affidavit of Non-Prosecution. A $25,000 Personal Bond on a felony impeding-breath case. Each one a door, each one a piece of proof no ranking page in any market carries. Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.

Read what dismissed looks like — then call the number his clients called.

How charges get dropped, lawfully →

04 · WHERE IT BREAKS

Two Locks. One Door Either.

Aggravated assault is a two-lock door. The State needs the assault AND the aggravation. Break either lock and the case dies. Four breaks, each statute-anchored:

1. The weapon isn’t in evidence — or isn’t “deadly.” The object must be capable of death or SBI in the manner of its use (§1.07(a)(17)(B)). If the State can’t prove the how, the aggravation fails. The motorcycle helmet case, inverted: an object not shown capable of causing death or serious injury in the way it was actually used does not complete the element.

2. “Serious” isn’t serious. §1.07(a)(46) versus §1.07(a)(8): a bruise is bodily injury — physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. SBI is a substantial risk of death, death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss. Medical records decide this, not adjectives.

3. It was defense, not aggression.

(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force. The actor’s belief that the force was immediately necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the force was used:
(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor’s occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;
(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor’s habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or
(C) was committing or attempting to commit aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery;
(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and
(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
(e) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the force is used is not required to retreat before using force as described by this section.
(f) For purposes of Subsection (a), in determining whether an actor described by Subsection (e) reasonably believed that the use of force was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §9.31(a), (e), (f) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

Texas law presumes your belief was reasonable when someone forcibly entered your habitation, vehicle, or business — and imposes no duty to retreat. The defense requires building facts early and admitting what must be admitted. It wins cases when it’s prepared. And where the facts fit, consent is its own door:

(a) The victim’s effective consent or the actor’s reasonable belief that the victim consented to the actor’s conduct is a defense to prosecution under Section 22.01 (Assault), 22.02 (Aggravated Assault), or 22.05 (Deadly Conduct) if:
(1) the conduct did not threaten or inflict serious bodily injury; or
(2) the victim knew the conduct was a risk of:
(A) his occupation;
(B) recognized medical treatment; or
(C) a scientific experiment conducted by recognized methods.
— TEX. PENAL CODE §22.06(a) (current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd C.S., 2025)

4. The officers weren’t witnesses. The police arrive after the incident ends. They weren’t there. They hear one side, and they write that side down. “The police aren’t witnesses to what happened, so they frequently make mistakes. I will never let a client go down for something they didn’t do.” — Mercer, owner response. Body-cam, 911 calls, medical records, and the complainant’s own changing account are where false allegations break. The facts that never made the offense report are often the facts that end the case.

Find the break in yours — (713) 208-7682.

The 18 assault charges — and how each dies →

05 · THE PROOF · TWO VOICES

What Dismissed Looks Like

The market has testimonial blocks. We have two voices.

Zion Rich — ★★★★★ — Google review:

“I was fighting a false allegation by my spouse of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Harris County. Criminal Defense attorneys Michael Mercer and Casey Keirnan got my felony assault case dismissed! No probation. No fines. Straight dismissal! They were very responsive and professional throughout this stressful situation. I highly recommend Mercer & Keirnan for anyone fighting assault family member charges in Houston. Aggressive defense lawyers who work fast and charge affordable fees.”

MERCER RESPONDS:

“I can’t express how gratifying it is for me to beat false accusations. When police arrive, tensions are high and things are said that may be exaggerated or just untrue. The police aren’t witnesses to what happened so they frequently make mistakes. I will never let a client go down for something they didn’t do. Thank you for trusting Mercer & Keirnan to help you through this stressful situation and of course let us know if we can be of any help in the future.”

Clariss Reyes — ★★★★★ — Google review:

“Ive never dealt with anything like this before i was scared on an ankle monitor my life felt like it was flipped upside down my freedom felt like it was on the line but i put all my trust and faith in michael he did his thing and got my agg assualt charge dismissed and didnt even take long ankle monitor GONE got my freedom back !! my life is now back to normal and im so grateful for everything he did for me during this hard situation hands down the best attorney to have on your side!”

Results strip — prior results do not guarantee outcomes:

Client	Charge	Outcome
hayder ibrahim	Agg assault w/ deadly weapon, Harris County	DISMISSED
Eduardo Avila	Aggravated assault felony, Harris County	DISMISSED
Jenna Funes	Aggravated assault felony	DISMISSED
Zion Rich	Agg assault w/ deadly weapon (false allegation by spouse)	DISMISSED
Clariss Reyes	Agg assault (ankle monitor removed)	DISMISSED

Eduardo Avila — ★★★★★:

“I had the privilege of working with Attorney Michael Mercer on an aggravated assault felony case, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. He was incredibly tough, persistent, and thorough in handling my case, ultimately getting it dismissed. His professionalism, expertise, and dedication made all the difference. If you’re looking for an attorney who will fight for you, Michael Mercer is the one to call. 5 out of 5 stars!”

MERCER RESPONDS:

“I take great pride in the trust that our clients place in us and I consider our relationship to be sacred. You are trusting me with your life, your future and your freedom and I will do everything I can to get you the best possible outcome. Dismissal.“

hayder ibrahim — ★★★★★ — Google review, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Harris County:

“Michael Mercer and Casey Keirnan are some of the best criminal defense attorneys in Houston. I was facing an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in Harris County and they got this felony assault case dismissed outright with no probation. Anyone charged with assault or aggravated assault in Houston should strongly consider calling Mercer and Keirnan Criminal Defense Attorneys. I couldn’t be happier with how they handled my case!”

Jenna Funes — ★★★★★ — Google review:

“Thank you so much Mr. Michael Mercer aggravated assault felony charge case dismissed In no time highly recommend thank you for your help I thank you Jesus for letting me find this great and awesome lawyer can’t thank you enough God bless you!”

MERCER RESPONDS:

“I knew these allegations were false and that you could not have committed the crime they alleged. We got a quick and just dismissal in this case and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you for the kind words Jenna.”

4.9★ · 117 Google reviews · 45 owner responses. Show Me The Justice — repeat courtroom winner, 2021–2026. The record does the talking.

Read what dismissed looks like — then call the number his clients called.

The full docket — our case results →

06 · THE MACHINE

From 1200 Baker to 1201 Franklin

The arresting officer wasn’t there when it started. He arrived after, heard one side, and wrote that side down. Here is what happens next — in Harris County, hour by hour.

Arrest. An officer from HPD, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, one of the eight constable precincts, a city police department (Pasadena, Baytown, Humble), or DPS files the charge. Every one of those arrests funnels to the same place.

Booking. The Harris County Joint Processing Center at 1200 Baker Street — the jail intake downtown. Fingerprints. Photographs. The charge typed into a system that now owns your calendar.

Magistration. Within 48 hours, a judge reads the charge, sets bond, and signs any protective order. The 2025 Legislature tightened this whole area: a magistrate must decide bail within 48 hours of arrest, on individualized consideration (CCP art. 17.028). Aggravated assault is now an enumerated “offense involving violence” — personal bond is barred by default (art. 17.03(b-2), (b-3)). A warrantless felony arrest has its own rule: release on bond not to exceed $10,000 by the 48th hour absent a probable-cause determination (art. 17.033).

The DA intake decision. A prosecutor you will never meet reviews the case. The charge either moves forward or doesn’t.

1201 Franklin. Your case is assigned to one of 16 County Criminal Courts at Law (misdemeanors) or one of 29 felony District Courts. The settings begin. The evidence gets preserved or it doesn’t. The witnesses get interviewed or they don’t. The calls you make in the first 48 hours shape the case.

The MOEP clock. In family-violence arrests, a magistrate’s order of emergency protection can issue at magistration — 61 to 91 days standard, 91 to 121 where a deadly weapon was involved (CCP art. 17.292(j)). Conditions are arguments, not fate. An experienced defense lawyer can ask the judge to amend the order so you can return home and see your children.

The venue truth. Charged in Pasadena? Your case isn’t in Pasadena. It’s at 1201 Franklin — three blocks from our office. Charged in Baytown? Same courthouse. Charged in Humble, Katy, Spring, Cypress, Tomball, Clear Lake, Channelview, Kingwood? Every one of those Harris County satellite-city arrests rides the same pipeline to 1201 Franklin. HPD’s citywide volume, the HCSO belt through Spring and Cypress, the constable precincts, DPS on the freeways, Pasadena PD, Baytown PD — all of them funnel to the same building. Different arresting agency, same courthouse, same doctrine, same defense.

The ring counties. Same Texas statutes, different courthouse, different District Attorney. Montgomery County (Conroe; The Woodlands), Fort Bend County (Richmond; Sugar Land, Missouri City), Galveston County (League City, Texas City, Galveston), Brazoria County (Angleton; Pearland). An arrest one exit down the freeway can mean a different prosecutor’s playbook for the identical charge. The record travels. Tyler Nichols, in his public Google review, described two felony dismissals — “one of those cases being in a county he wasn’t too sure of. Nonetheless that didn’t stop him from coming in and getting the judge to see the truth.” Both were dismissed. And Chris Castro’s case was handled while he was in New York — dismissed. Haylee Warcup moved out of state mid-case — finished and dismissed. In many settings we appear so you don’t have to. The courthouse is three blocks from our office — not from yours.

Se habla español. The whole defense, in your language, from the free consultation on.

Arrested in the last 48 hours? Hour by hour →

THE CLOSE

The Call Everyone Is Waiting For

The lawyer who answers (713) 208-7682 is the one whose name goes on the filings. Not a paralegal. Not a call center. Not a case manager who has never stood in a Harris County courtroom. Michael D. Mercer. He has been on both sides of an intake decision. Fourteen years of practice. Zero disciplinary history — the State Bar keeps that record, not us. Flat fees and payment plans are on the official bar record, not a sales pitch. The consultation is free, any hour. Se habla español.

A deadly weapon can be almost anything. So can the defense. Find the break in yours — (713) 208-7682, any hour.

Our office is at 917 Franklin Street, Suite 550, Houston, Texas 77002 — three blocks from 1201 Franklin, where your case lives. We have made that walk more than three thousand times since 2012, and the vast majority of those cases ended the same way: dismissed. Bring us the charging instrument. We’ll tell you what the State can actually prove. The consultation is free. The call is answered. The walk is four minutes. The record is the stick.

(713) 208-7682.

Related: Family violence attorney → · Assault on a family member lawyer → · Impeding-breath (choking) charges → · Defending aggravated assault on a family member → · The Magistrate’s Order of Emergency Protection →

Straight answers

What counts as a “deadly weapon” under Texas law?

Texas defines it twice. Prong (A): “a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury.” Prong (B) — the words that decide real cases: “anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury” (§1.07(a)(17)). Guns always qualify. So can knives, bats, vehicles — and in one case we defended, a motorcycle helmet. The State doesn’t get to assume the object was deadly. It has to prove HOW it was used.

What’s the difference between assault and aggravated assault in Texas?

Assault (§22.01) is the base charge — causing bodily injury, threatening imminent injury, or offensive contact. Aggravated assault (§22.02) is that same assault plus a second lock: serious bodily injury, or the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon. No second lock, no felony. The distinction is the difference between a Class A misdemeanor and 2 to 20 years.

Is aggravated assault a first-degree or second-degree felony?

Second degree is the default — 2 to 20 years (§12.33). It becomes first degree — 5 to 99 or life (§12.32) — when a deadly weapon causes SBI to a family, dating, or household member; when the weapon causes a traumatic brain or spine injury leaving vegetative state or irreversible paralysis; against public servants, witnesses, informants, process servers, security officers; discharging a firearm from a vehicle toward a building or vehicle; or, effective September 1, 2025, when the assault is part of a “mass shooting” (§22.02(b)(4)).

How do you beat an aggravated assault charge?

By breaking one of the two locks beyond a reasonable doubt: prove the object wasn’t used as deadly, prove the injury wasn’t serious, prove it was defense (§9.31, §9.32), or expose an identification built on officers who weren’t witnesses. One of our aggravated assault cases ended when the 184th District Court found no probable cause and the State dismissed. Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.

Can the victim drop aggravated assault charges?

No. Once filed, only the State can dismiss — by written motion, with the court’s consent (CCP art. 32.02). The complainant’s wishes are input, not authority. An affidavit of non-prosecution matters — done right, through a lawyer, it moves the State’s own calculus. It just isn’t a button the accuser can press.

Can aggravated assault be dismissed before trial?

Yes — and it happens more than most people believe. Statewide in FY2025, Texas courts dismissed 30.6% of aggravated assault cases (Office of Court Administration). The State doesn’t dismiss out of mercy. It dismisses when it can’t complete the checklist.

How much is bond for aggravated assault in Harris County?

There is no fixed number. The 2025 Legislature tightened this whole area: a magistrate must decide bail within 48 hours of arrest (CCP art. 17.028), and aggravated assault is an enumerated “offense involving violence” — personal bond is barred by default (art. 17.03(b-2), (b-3)). A warrantless felony arrest has its own rule: release on bond not to exceed $10,000 by the 48th hour absent a probable-cause determination (art. 17.033). The right lawyer moves the number.

Can I get probation for aggravated assault in Texas?

Read the statute’s own fine print: aggravated assault is NOT on the state’s automatic-exclusion list (CCP art. 42A.054(a)) — but if a deadly weapon was used or exhibited, judge-ordered community supervision is off the table and that finding must be entered in the judgment (art. 42A.054(b)–(c)). The fight over the word “deadly” IS the fight over your future. Deferred adjudication (art. 42A.101) remains available in the right case.

Can aggravated assault be expunged in Texas?

If the case was dismissed or you were acquitted — yes, that’s the expunction system (CCP ch. 55A, effective January 1, 2025). The law even names our favorite outcome: a dismissal reflecting an “absence of probable cause” is an enumerated expunction ground (art. 55A.053(a)(2)(D)). If you were never indicted on a felony arrest, the general wait is three years (art. 55A.052(a)(3)); a prosecutor can recommend expunction sooner (art. 55A.101). A conviction is different — and a family-violence finding seals nothing.

Will an aggravated assault conviction take my gun rights?

Yes — twice over. Texas §46.04(a): five years after release, then home-premises only. Federal 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1): any felony punishable by more than one year triggers the bar — and that clock does not reset the way Texas’s does. The courts upheld these prohibitions in 2024 (United States v. Rahimi). Which is one more reason the word “deadly” is worth fighting.

How long does the State have to file, and how long will my case take?

For the indictment: five years from the offense — aggravated assault has its own line in the limitations statute (CCP art. 12.01(4)(I)). The three-year figure you’ll read elsewhere is the catch-all, not this charge. If you’re in custody, the State must indict by the 180-day mark or the law says the case shall be dismissed (art. 32.01). Most cases end sooner — when the checklist breaks.

I live out of state — can you still defend my Harris County case?

Yes. We’ve done it repeatedly: a client handled from New York — dismissed; a referral across state lines — full dismissal; a client who moved mid-case — finished and dismissed. In many settings we appear so you don’t have to. The courthouse is three blocks from our office — not from yours.