Continuous Violence Against the Family is the statute that converts two misdemeanor-level family assaults into a third-degree felony — without requiring that either one was ever reported, charged, or proven before. It is one of the most aggressive tools the Harris County District Attorney's Family Violence Division has, and defending it requires understanding exactly how it differs from an ordinary assault case.
What the Statute Prohibits
A person commits an offense if, during a period that is 12 months or less in duration, the person two or more times engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1) — assault causing bodily injury — against a person whose relationship to the defendant is described by the Family Code definitions of family member, household member, or dating relationship.
Why It Is Harder to Defend Than a Single Assault
The prior incidents need not be charged. The State may prove uncharged, unreported allegations from the preceding year. In practice this means a complainant's testimony about earlier arguments can become an element of a felony.
Jury unanimity is relaxed. The statute expressly provides that members of the jury are not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged in by the defendant constituted an offense, or on the exact date when that conduct occurred. They need only agree that two or more qualifying assaults occurred during the 12-month period. Six jurors can believe one incident happened and six can believe a different one did, and the verdict still stands.
The bar for "bodily injury" is low. Physical pain alone suffices. No visible injury, medical treatment, or photograph is required.
Punishment and Collateral Consequences
A third-degree felony: 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, or probation. A conviction carries an affirmative finding of family violence, which means a lifetime federal firearm prohibition, permanent ineligibility for an order of nondisclosure, enhancement of any future family violence allegation, immigration consequences for non-citizens, and adverse effects in any custody proceeding.
A defendant may not be convicted of both this offense and an assault that was alleged as part of the same continuous course of conduct — but the State routinely indicts both ways.
Defenses
The 12-month window. The incidents must fall within a single 12-month period. Dates are frequently vague in these cases, and pushing one allegation outside the window defeats the charge entirely.
Only one qualifying incident. Many indictments rest on one documented event plus a general assertion of a pattern. If the second incident is not conduct constituting assault causing bodily injury — an argument, a threat, property damage — the felony fails and the case drops to a misdemeanor.
The relationship element. The complainant must fall within the Family Code definitions. Roommates, former dating partners, and casual relationships are sometimes assumed rather than proven.
Self-defense. Chapter 9 applies to each alleged incident, and the State must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
Motive and credibility. Divorce, custody, and immigration disputes supply motives to consolidate old grievances into a criminal allegation. Prior inconsistent statements and contemporaneous text messages are often decisive.
Related
- Assault Family Member · Assault family member — second offense
- Impeding breath (strangulation) · Protective orders
- Penal Code 25.07 — violating a protective order
Charged in Harris County?
Brian Foley is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a former Harris County Felony Chief Prosecutor; Luis Baez is a former Trial Bureau Chief. Call or text (713) 703-1718 for a free, confidential consultation.