Bedford Criminal Defense Lawyer
Bedford Criminal Charges Demand a Zealous Defense
Bedford has a lot of things going for it. Good schools. Nice weather. A strategic location right between Fort Worth and Dallas that allows people to enjoy the benefits of those larger cities without having to deal with many of the stresses.
Even better, when compared to the national mean, the crime rate here is about 6% lower. Stack it up against Texas, and there is an even more striking difference – Bedford is 17% lower.
Violent crimes in particular are a third and a quarter lower, respectively. That is great news both for the people who live here and those who may just be passing through for the Blues & BBQ Fest or any of the area’s other well-known events.
There is a tradeoff for this relative safety, though. Most people know that Texas is tough on crime, but in “safer” places like Bedford, there tends to be a strong interest in making an example of anyone who finds themselves on the wrong side of the law. Prosecutors and others will not hesitate to saddle people with the harshest possible penalties because they want it to serve as a deterrent to others.
Unfortunately, this type of atmosphere encourages overzealous policing and prosecution. Laws, rules, and procedures may be bent or broken, and rights may be violated in order to make arrests and secure convictions. To fight back, you need an aggressive criminal attorney who understands the laws of our state and will not back down.
At the Fulgham Law Firm, P.C., experienced Bedford criminal defense lawyer Brandon Fulgham and his team of Former Prosecutors with over 80 years of criminal law and DWI experience are committed to providing the best criminal defense to every single one of their clients, whether they have been charged with minor misdemeanors or more serious felonies.
Given the enormous stakes when you are facing criminal charges, you should never speak to the police or discuss your case with anyone without obtaining legal counsel and representation from an experienced Bedford criminal defense attorney.
While no criminal defense attorney can guarantee the outcome of a criminal prosecution, you increase the odds of staying out of jail and safeguarding your reputation and future by retaining an experienced proven criminal defense law firm.
Why The Fulgham Law Firm Is the Right Criminal Attorney to Handle Your Bedford Criminal Charge
Bedford criminal defense lawyer Brandon Fulgham and his criminal defense team understand the inner workings of law enforcement and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s offices because he worked as a prosecutor in both Collin County and Tarrant County. During his tenure as a prosecutor, he handled over 75 jury trials in both county and district courts, so he does not hesitate to take a case to trial if the prosecutor is being unreasonable.
In fact, The Fulgham Law Firm’s team of former prosecutors have tried over five hundred criminal jury trials and over 300 DWI trials in the courts of Tarrant County, Texas, and other courts in North Texas. Whether you are facing a serious felony crime or a minor misdemeanor citation, the experience and knowledge at The Fulgham Law Firm stands ready to protect your freedom and ensure you get your life back!
Mr. Fulgham draws on this extensive experience to expose any possible improper police procedures, such as violations of his clients’ Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure and Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
These violations, along with other Due Process violations, can result in the exclusion of key evidence and dismissal of charges or acquittal after trial. Even when these options are not realistic based on the facts and evidence, Mr. Fulgham uses private investigators and forensic experts to aggressively challenge the evidence and expose shortcomings in the prosecutor’s case, so the prosecutor is motivated to offer a favorable plea agreement.
It is a strategy that not only works, but has resulted in Brandon Fulgham receiving the following recognitions:
Top 100 Fort Worth Attorneys – 2013-2022
Top 100 Trial Lawyers – 2015-2022
Top 40 Under 40 – 2015-2018
10/10 Superb Rating
Top Attorney Criminal Defense – 2017-2022
Top Attorney DUI & DWI – 2017-2022
Lead Counsel Rated – 2017 – 2021
While you may have heard that those accused of criminal offenses in Bedford and the surrounding areas of Texas may have the right to a court appointed criminal attorney, there are important reasons to consider retaining a private Bedford criminal defense lawyer instead.
First, many people are ineligible for a court appointed attorney under the financial need-based standards that determine whether a person is entitled to a court appointed attorney.
Second, the process of fighting criminal charges is stressful and upsetting, and court appointed attorneys have huge caseloads and limited resources. This means that you may not get much an opportunity to talk to your court-appointed attorney except for a few minutes in court. In contrast, private attorneys typically have more extensive resources and time to devote to your case, because they do not have the enormous caseload.
Finally, most court appointed attorneys do not have a private practice with a proven track record of obtaining favorable results for their clients. What is more important than ensuring you maintain your freedom? What is more important than making sure your criminal record is clean?
The Fulgham Law Firm is dedicated to fighting for the rights of our clients, making sure they receive the zealous representation and personal care necessary to keep them informed, and help them obtain a successful outcome.
Criminal Charges in Bedford that Brandon Fulgham Can Help You Fight
Our Bedford criminal defense law firm is dedicated to preventing our clients from becoming the victims of overzealous prosecutors and law enforcement officers. We handle the full range of criminal offenses in Bedford, including but not limited to the following:
- Assault
- Aggravated Assault
- Burglary
- Burglary of Motor Vehicle
- Criminal Mischief
- Criminal Trespass
- Deadly Conduct
- Disorderly Conduct
- Drug Charges
- DWI
- Evading Arrest
- Expunction
- Failure to Identify
- Family Violence
- Fraud Crimes
- Harassment
- Indecent Exposure
- Interference with Public Duties
- Juvenile Crimes
- Non-Disclosure / Record Sealing
- Possession of Marijuana
- Possession of Controlled Substance
- Probation Revocation
- Public Intoxication
- Public Lewdness
- Resisting Arrest
- Retaliation & Obstruction
- Robbery
- Terroristic Threat
- Theft Crimes
- Theft by Check / Service
- Weapon Charges
When you are accused of these serious crimes, you face many potential penalties, including incarceration, hefty fines, probation, mandatory counseling, community service, anger management or substance abuse classes, driver’s license suspension, and other forms of punishment. Further, you also may experience significant long-term informal consequences that affect your employment, housing, immigration status, education, reputation, and personal relationships.
What Should You Do If A Bedford Detective Has Called You?
It is a terrifying situation. You receive a call from an unknown number on your cell phone. You answer the phone, and it is a Bedford police detective on the other line asking you to have an interview regarding a possible “investigation” in which you are involved. What should you do?
For the innocent, the temptation is to agree to meet with the Bedford detective and hear what he has to say and explain how you are innocent, and the investigation should be dropped! However, in practice, it does not work this way. Why? If you receive a call from a Bedford police officer stating you are the subject of an investigation, you should expect to be aggressively interrogated if you meet with the detective alone.
In fact, most detectives are trained to manage interrogations in a manner that requires you to answer many yes or no questions. In fact, many questions by detectives are framed in a manner that makes it appear you are guilty regardless of how you answer him. For example, “Did you know the items were stolen before or after you showed up at the house?” As you can tell, this question presupposes your guilt! So, what should you do?
How Can A Bedford Criminal Defense Attorney Protect You?
If you are the subject of a criminal investigation in Bedford, Texas, you should hire an experienced and aggressive criminal defense attorney! Why? Because everything you say to a detective will be used against you! Everything! Do not expect the criminal investigator to give you the benefit of the doubt with anything that you say. To the contrary, if you agree to be interviewed and you say something that could be interpreted as a confession, you should expect the detective to interpret your statement as a confession.
However, if you hire a Bedford criminal lawyer to step in to assist you, you have now exercised your 6th Amendment right to counsel and your 5th Amendment right to remain silent. The advantage of retaining an experienced criminal defense lawyer to assist you is that your lawyer can now speak to the detective, provide evidence that may clear your name and you do not have to worry about your lawyer’s words being twisted or manipulated against you. Why? Because every word your criminal attorney says to the detective is labeled as hearsay under Texas criminal law and cannot be used against you in a court of law. This is critical! This protects you from being manipulated by an overzealous Bedford detective during an interrogation.
By having a criminal attorney involved in the investigative process, you may avoid the prospect of being arrested or charged with a crime. Have you been contacted by a Bedford detective? Do not hesitate to contact The Fulgham Law Firm for a free consultation to help you plan a defense against the detective!
Where Is The Bedford Municipal Court Located?
The Bedford municipal court is located at 2000 Forest Ridge Drive, Bedford, Texas 76021. For more information regarding the Bedford municipal court procedures, you can visit their website at: http://www.bedfordtx.gov/court/
Where Is The Bedford City Jail Located?
If you need information on a loved one who is currently in the Bedford City Jail, please call 817-952-2040 or visit the detention facility located at 2121 L. Dodson Dr, Bedford, Texas 76021. For more information on the detention facility please visit: https://www.bedfordpolice.com/detention-facility
Have You Been Arrested For DWI In Bedford, Texas?
It happens to citizens in Bedford, Texas every day. Maybe you went out for dinner with friends or family. While at dinner you had a glass of wine or a beer. You are driving home after a fun time at dinner and a Bedford DWI officer pulls you over for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. What can you do? Can you protect your driver’s license from being suspended? How do you fight a Bedford DWI arrest? Can you keep the arrest and charge off your criminal record?
Let us start by examining what the Bedford DWI officer will have to prove in order for you to be convicted for DWI: it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law that you
- Operated a motor vehicle
- In a public place
- While Intoxicated
“Operating” a motor vehicle does not necessarily require you to be driving. It seems strange but you can be arrested for DWI in Bedford for being intoxicated with your car not moving. The police officer must only show that you were “operating” a motor vehicle, which can include having the car running and in drive position. However, if you were not driving at the time the police approached you, your Bedford DWI lawyer should use this to your advantage to argue to the prosecutor that you were not “operating” a motor vehicle.
If you were operating a vehicle on private property, you may have a strong defense to the crime of DWI. However, be careful – “public place” is defined as a place for which the public has access, or a substantial portion of the public has access. This can include apartment complexes, public parks, and other similar areas.
Finally, the most contested issue with DWI cases involves the element of “intoxication.” What does it mean to be “intoxicated” under Texas DWI law? Intoxication is defined as the loss of the normal use of your mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, drugs, a dangerous drug, or other substance into your body OR having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher at the time of driving.
Bedford police officer attempt to establish that you have lost the normal use of your mental or physical faculties by offering you standardized field sobriety tests. Field sobriety tests are designed to measure your physical and mental abilities by dividing your attention amongst multiple tasks. The National Highway and Safety Administration promulgated the tests to identify a defect in a person’s faculties because of alcohol or drugs.
However, field sobriety tests are only as reliable as the Bedford police officer administering the tests. If the DWI officer does not administer the test properly, it can be deemed unreliable in court. Additionally, the police officer will look for common signs of intoxication to strengthen his case: bloodshot watery eyes, odor of an alcoholic beverage, unsteady on your feet, lack of balance and other similar signs.
Finally, the most common way that Bedford DWI officers attempt to prove driving while intoxicated is through the administration of a breath or blood test to establish a specific blood alcohol level. Can you refuse a test? Yes, you can! In fact, by doing so, you will force the DWI officer to prepare a search warrant establishing sufficient evidence to make a judge require a blood draw.
What if you have a blood draw that is over the legal limit? Does this mean you are guilty of DWI in Bedford, Texas? Not necessarily! How long after your operation of the vehicle was the blood test taken? The longer in time it took to obtain a blood sample, the more unreliable the blood sample is in determining intoxication. Think about it – a blood sample only shows you someone’s level of intoxication at the time they gave the test. However, if the blood was taken 3 or 4 hours after operation of the vehicle, it is much less reliable in establishing intoxication at the time of operating the vehicle.
The State of Texas is required to extrapolate back in time to determine your intoxication level when you were driving. The science behind supporting intoxication is less reliable the longer in time the Bedford police department takes in procuring a blood sample. You should consult with an experienced and aggressive Bedford DWI attorney to go over your case facts do help you formulate a DWI defense strategy.
The Fulgham Law Firm has over eighty combined years of dealing with DWI cases in the Bedford and Tarrant County, Texas region. Our team of DWI attorneys have tried over 300 DWI jury trials and have managed many breath and blood test DWI cases and have resolved many of them for favorable results for our clients.
Contact Brandon Fulgham about Your Bedford Arrest as Soon as Possible
If you have been formally arrested or are merely the subject of a law enforcement investigation, the decision to retain experienced Bedford criminal defense lawyer Brandon Fulgham may even prevent formal charges from being filed against you.
When Mr. Fulgham is retained during the pre-charge investigation stage of a case, he could limit the scope of interrogations and searches or expose fatal flaws in the prosecutor’s case so that the prosecutor declines to file charges or files less serious or fewer charges.
Our Bedford misdemeanor and felony defense law firm provides tenacious representation and advocacy when seeking a successful outcome for our clients. Contact us today at 817-877-3030 or via email at brandon@fulghamlaw.com.
Start fighting for your tomorrow.
