Stradley Law Firm · Texas state court
Serious state felonies.
The charges where the exposure is real, and the case needs someone who has tried them from both sides of the courtroom.
Both sides of the courtroom
He decided these cases before he defended them.
Bill Stradley was an Assistant District Attorney and Chief Prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. That is not a line of biography; it is why the read on a file is different.
Knowing how a charging decision is actually made — which cases an office wants to try, which it is carrying reluctantly, and what a file looks like from the other chair — changes what is worth arguing and what is worth resolving.
What you are actually facing
Texas sorts felonies into degrees, and the degree is the case.
Texas punishment ranges are set by category. A state jail felony carries 180 days to two years. A third degree felony carries two to ten years. A second degree carries two to twenty. A first degree carries five to ninety-nine years or life. Capital offences sit above all of it.
Misdemeanors run alongside: Class A up to a year in county jail, Class B up to 180 days, Class C fine-only.
Those ranges move. Prior convictions can enhance a charge into a higher range, and facts alleged alongside the offence — a weapon, an injury, who the complainant was — can do the same. Two people charged with what sounds like the same thing can be facing entirely different exposure.
Which is why the first useful conversation is about what is actually alleged, not what the offence is called.
How a Harris County felony moves
Arrest, bond, grand jury, court.
A felony arrest is followed by a magistrate setting bond. What happens in the first days affects the rest of it more than most people expect, and it is the stretch where someone is most likely to speak when they should not.
The case is then presented to a grand jury, which decides whether it proceeds. A declining grand jury returns a no bill. If it proceeds, the case is assigned to a district court and begins the long middle: discovery, motions, negotiation, and where necessary trial.
Most cases end before trial. That is not a failure of nerve; it is what the numbers have always looked like. The work is in making sure the resolution reflects the file rather than the calendar.
Where he appears
Harris County and the counties around it.
Felonies and misdemeanors in Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties, and serious matters throughout Texas.
Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1997 — a certification fewer than one percent of Texas lawyers hold, and one that must be re-earned rather than simply kept.
A deliberately small caseload
You get Bill, not an associate you meet on the courthouse steps.
A small number of cases at a time is what makes hands-on work possible at all. It is a structure rather than a slogan, and it is the reason this practice does not take everything that comes through the door.
Questions people actually ask
The ones that come up every time.
What is the difference between deferred adjudication and probation?
Deferred adjudication is not a conviction — the court defers a finding of guilt while conditions are served. Regular community supervision follows a conviction. The distinction matters enormously afterwards, for licenses, employment and immigration.
Does a no bill mean it is over?
It means that presentation did not proceed. It is a genuinely good outcome and it is not always the absolute end, which is worth understanding rather than assuming either way.
Will my case go to trial?
Most do not. That is true across the system and always has been. The question worth asking is not whether you will try the case but whether your lawyer is credible when they say they would.
Can a felony be reduced?
Sometimes, depending on the facts, the evidence and what is alleged alongside the offence. It is one of the concrete things worth exploring early rather than late.
How long will this take?
Serious felonies are routinely measured in many months. Anyone who gives you a confident date at the first meeting is guessing.
General information about how these matters work in Texas, not legal advice about yours. Every case turns on its own facts, and nothing on this page creates a lawyer–client relationship. If any of it applies to you, the useful next step is a conversation, not more reading.
Speak to Bill
One number, and it reaches him.
If it is the middle of the night and you are deciding whether to call in the morning — call in the morning. Do not speak to anyone official before you do.
1545 Heights Boulevard, Suite 200
Houston, Texas 77008
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