Family Violence Assaults

To enhance an assault for family violence, prosecutors may use extrinsic evidence–not solely a CCP art. 42.013 judicial finding of family violence–to prove that the defendant was previously convicted of such acts according to the Houston Appellate Court in 2003.

The Austin court found that there is no indication that the legislature, by adopting article 42.013, intended to disallow the continued use of extrinsic evidence of prior family violence in prosecutions pursuant to section 22.01(b)(2).  Considering that the apparent purpose of 42.013 was to facilitate prosecutions pursuant to section 22.01, it is more likely that the legislature intended 42.013 to provide an additional method, not the only method, for proving a previous conviction for family assault.