How To Beat A Failure To Identify Case In Texas: A Former Prosecutor Explains Your Defenses! (2022)

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Texas Penal Code Regarding Failure to Identify
According to Texas Penal Code, Section 38.02. If you are facing a charge of Fail to ID, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office will be required to prove the following elements of Failure to Identify beyond a reasonable doubt:
• A person commits an offense if he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information.
• A person commits an offense if he intentionally gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has:
o lawfully arrested the person.
o lawfully detained the person; or
o requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense.

The Texas Penal Code states that if the alleged failure to identify involves failing to give a name, address, or date of birth after a valid arrest, the crime is classified as a Class C misdemeanor. Under Texas criminal law, a Class C misdemeanor is punishable only by a fine of up to $500 with no possibility of jail time.

The Texas Penal Code states that if the alleged failure to identify involves a citizen intentionally giving a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person, lawfully detained the person or requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense, then the crime is classified as a Class B misdemeanor.

Under Texas criminal law, a Class B Misdemeanor is punishable by a term in the Tarrant County jail of up to 180 days and up to a $2,000 fine.

The Texas Penal Code states that if you intentionally give a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person, lawfully detained the person or requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense and the arrestee had an active warrant at the time of the offense, then the crime will be classified as a Class A misdemeanor. In other words, if the Tarrant County prosecutor can prove in court that the charged citizen had an active warrant and was classified as a “fugitive from justice at the time of the offense,” then the crime of Failure to Identify will be punished as a Class A misdemeanor.

Under Texas criminal law, a Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by up to 1 year in the Tarrant County jail and up to a $4,000 fine.

Criminal Defenses To The Crime Of Fail To ID

No Criminal Intent

The Tarrant County prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you intentionally gave a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who lawfully arrested you. What if you made an honest mistake?

We have seen this situation come up multiple times in criminal cases. A police officer asks for someone’s name and date of birth. The client provides the exact date of birth and last name but reverses the middle and first name because his common name that everyone calls him is by his middle name. Technically, all the information he provided to the police officer was correct but part of it was in the wrong order. Should there be a charge for failure to identify? Arguably, NO! The State of Texas would have a tough time proving the element of criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, this is a good scenario where your criminal defense attorney should be pushing for a dismissal of the fail to id charges.

Unlawful Arrest or Detention

To be convicted of the crime of Fail to ID, the State of Texas must prove that you intentionally gave a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person or
lawfully detained the person. What if the police officer unlawfully detained you or arrested you?

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00:00 How To Beat A Fail To Id Charge In Texas
01:23 What Has To Be Proven?
03:08 Punishments Of Fail To ID Charge
04:47 Defenses To Fail To ID Charge
09:03 Can A Failure To Identify Case Be Dismissed?