Today is 6/16/14. I am set for a jury trial of a charge of UUMV (unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.) I appeared for trial and announced ready. The ADA informed me that she is going to dismiss the case against my client.
Without my client's knowledge, her former boyfriend stole a Camaro from a vehicle auction site. Several days later the ex called my client and invited her to dinner. At dinner, the ex drank too much and asked my client if she would drive his new car. While in the parking lot, my client had a fender bender. As a result, the police were called, and the police discovered that the vehicle was stolen.
Police being police charged my client and her ex-boyfriend with the felony charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. My client had never been arrested, and the ex has an extensive criminal history, including several prior convictions of UUMV. One thing that happened in this case was that the ex stepped up and did the right thing. The ex gave my client a sworn affidavit stating that he stole the Camaro, and my client did not participate in the theft. In addition, he also stated that the only reason that my client was driving the vehicle was that he drank too much while they were on a date.
Since the vehicle was stolen from an auction site, the ex had the keys, the steering column and all the windows were intact.
I gave the ADA handling the case a copy of the ex's affidavit several days before the trial. She informed me that she would consider dismissing the case. Today, she did! The moral of this story is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The ADA has been trying to get my client to accept a deal for the last several months. Each time we discuss the case, the deal gets better. Sometimes, the best course of action is to call the DA's bluff and force a trial. However, this strategy only works if the DA is bluffing!
If you have any questions about an arrest or a criminal law matter, please contact the Law Office of G. Thayer Williamson. I am an attorney licensed in the State of Texas since 2000 practicing in the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex.