OK, I know Class Cs can plead by mail, and now felonies can plead without coming "home".

Is there a way to plead original Class A and B misdemeanors from the pen? From out of state? I know I can revoke probations by mail, but am constantly being asked - even by the Court - to do pleas to the original case that way.

If you are doing them that way, where in the CCP is your authority??

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

We are working on that issue as well - with many county court defendants who at various state hospitals.

CCP 27.18 allows for pleas by video teleconferecing upon consent of counsel for defense and state.

CCP 27.14 allows for a plea of guilty or non contender made "either by the defenadtn or his counsel in open court..."

Would either of these sections not suffice?

So if counsel enters the plea for the absent defendant, who's going to put their thumbprint on the judgment under CCP 38.33 and 42.01(23)?

Not only the thumbprint, but many of us are not set up for video conferenceing.

I frequently see two scenarios - misdemeanor offenders who are now in state custody (and my judge prefers that these not be dismissed) and offenders who are out of state, often by a great distance, and will not return. (Yes, I can forfeit the bond, but we aren't heading east of the Mississippi to bring them back!)

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

In a county I once worked in, we had a form for the absent defendant to sign and put his thumbprint on in front of a notary, who would then sign indicating that the defendant personally appeared before the notary, was properly identified, and placed his thumbprint on the affidavit, which also included language indicating defendant's consent to proceed in his absence. You could also get the defendant to appear at the sheriff's office where he lives and get a fingerprint card done (at his expense, of course) send it to your office to show ID later.

This is bad voodoo. We are going to have lots of constitutional and practical problems by pursuing pleas without defendants.

The only real option for someone out of state who wants to pay a fine on a county court misdemeanor is to reduce to a Class C misdemeanor and do it by mail. I would only do this on a less serious county court case. Otherwise, the defendant will generally fail to appear, you cannot extradite for a misdemeanor, and the case sits in your bottom file drawer forever if they never return to Texas.

Well, if they never return to Texas, we at least get that benefit.