What Is Dismissal of a Case?
Legally speaking, case dismissal refers to the termination of a judicial proceeding on the ground of some defect in the institution of the action or in the process of the action. In other words, this means that a case can be dismissed before you even go to court. Dismissals are sometimes issued informally by a judge or may be asked for by one of the parties’ attorneys. For instance, in Pierce County District Court of Washington v. City of Tacoma, the Pierce County District Court (the court) dismissed two violations that had been charged to Tacoma police officers. The court found that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. The court ruled that the only authority it had was in relation to the charge of filing a false instrument, which means knowingly filing an instrument that contains false statements and is filed with the government. The violation in question in Pierce County District Court of Washington was a parking violation for a presumptive penalty of $250. The discrepancy was whether the officer’s uniform violation notices were actually a certified civil infraction under Washington law . The Parker court found that only the district court had jurisdiction to hear the falsification and misrepresentation claims against the officers, but the administrative parking violations should have been heard by an administrative forum. It vacated the finding of liability for the officers as to the civilian infractions and remanded to the district court for a factual determination as to the civil infractions. There are cases where different individuals are in situations giving rise to the same defense. In Macaitis v. City of San Antonio, Macaitis’ complaint was originally dismissed for failure to timely serve the defendants. When the same complaint was re-filed, the second complaint was again dismissed, this time for failure to state a claim. Macaitis then appealed the second dismissal as the first had already been overturned. In reviewing the case, the appeals court found that in the circumstances of the case, a dismissal without prejudice was with leave to amend the complaint to properly satisfy the situation.
Reasons for Dismissal Before Intended Court Appearance
Getting a case dismissed prior to the scheduled court date requires legal grounds. Examples of grounds include lack of evidence to pursue charges, procedural errors by the prosecutor or opposing counsel, or lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter. If the legal grounds for dismissal are persuasive enough, a judge may dismiss either voluntarily or involuntarily pursuant to defendant’s motion. A voluntary dismissal only occurs if the prosecutor does not oppose the defendant’s motion. However, in the absence of defendant’s timely pursuit of a motion to dismiss, a court can dismiss a case sua sponte where there is no basis for subject matter jurisdiction, the action is moot, or there is an obvious lack of any merit in the litigation.
Common basis for dismissal before court date includes:
Lack of Evidence
Prosecutorial Errors
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Faulty Pleas and Warrants
Motion to Withdraw
In many cases, the next step is to file a motion to dismiss. A motion to dismiss is a request made to the court for the lawsuit to be thrown out before it goes to trial. There are several methods of filing a motion to dismiss; but most are written documents filed with the court. A motion to dismiss must include a statement of facts, legal reasons for dismissal, and copies of supporting documents. The attorney opposing your motion in a response will need time to collect and submit evidence relevant to your case.
Often, a certified copy of the case file is required for review by the judge. If you have not yet appeared in court, the case will likely be filed under "John Doe" or "Jane Doe." This means that there is no stating of your name on any records.
Other actions are often required after a motion to dismiss has been filed. In some cases, notice must be given to all parties involved. The judge will then hold a hearing, where your attorney will present proper arguments and documentation. The opposing attorney will then present his/her side, after which the judge will make a decision on whether or not to dismiss the case.
Your Lawyer’s Role
Having experienced legal counsel is extremely important when attempting to get a case dismissed before the court date. Many times an attorney or firm will see opportunities for dismissal and regular traffic court hearings when clients do not. Whether it is a clerical error in ticketing, noticing errors, or dockets that are incorrect, opportunities to get your case dismissed will present themselves to experienced lawyers.
Legal counsel can also identify where an officer may have failed to follow a mandated procedure in issuing traffic tickets. Most officers are trained on the law that they enforce. However , they are not attorneys, and oftentimes they make errors in their paperwork that can lead to a case dismissal. The lawyers of Traffic Ticket Defense Legal Centers see these mistakes all the time.
We can spot discrepancies in the paperwork submitted on tickets and the issuing officers’ actions. In many instances, an attorney can work with the issuing officer to get the case dismissed. Oftentimes an attorney can negotiate a dismissal of a case for a client without the need to appear in court.
Dismissal Outcomes
The outcome of a dismissal before the court date can have different implications. The first thing to consider is how the dismissal is noted in the court system. A dismissal with prejudice means that the case has been dismissed, but the Plaintiff cannot re-file the case against the defendant. In contrast, a dismissal without prejudice allows the plaintiff to re-file the case against the defendant at a later date.
These types of dismissals are generally not entered once they are ordered by the court: they don’t get in the system until there is a judgment entered. If the dismissal terminates the entire case, you can be sure that it is noted on the docket. The question becomes what may happen in the case of an interlocutory dismissal.
In general, an interlocutory dismissal is one where it can be reinstated for cause, such as being "marked off for want of prosecution," meaning there was no action on the case for some period of time. For example, if a complaint is dismissed in this manner because the defendant did not file an answer, and the defendant files an answer upon being served with a praecipe, the dismissal may be vacated. However, if the case is dismissed for failure to appear followed by service of an appearance praecipe, the dismissal is not generally vacated. An interlocutory dismissal only preserves the right to bring the matter back to court for a limited period of time; it does not constitute adjudication upon the merit.
A "pre-trial" dismissal is generally where the case is dismissed before pre-trial. For example, a case may be dismissed or there may be case settlement following a pre-trial conference. Dismissals in this manner are generally formally acknowledged in the docket.
The operative fact here is whether the litigation is pending in the "active list" or the "inactive list." Essentially, a statute of limitations issue may arise if the case is on the active list, and the plaintiff is near to filing a more timely lawsuit. If the case is on the inactive list, there is no statute of limitations concern, because there is no action pending.
Case Dismissal FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions on Dismissing a Case
How long ahead of the actual court date will I know that my case is dismissed? Most requests for record expunctions or nondisclosure in Harris county are granted two to four weeks before the set court date. Sometimes when the district attorney’s office has a very heavy docket they may request the judge to rule for a larger group on a single day. In such a case you may be notified of the decision a day or two before the set court date. In the past we have sometimes received the judge’s order on the date of the court setting, as the district attorney’s office may have requested a ruling from the judge all at once. More recently the district attorneys have sought rulings more like how they were in the early to mid 1990s where they typically ruled in favor of each case individually.
How long does it take from the time expungement case is filed until the case is dismissed? Usually between three and six months for Houston / Harris County.
Is there a high cost involved in getting the case dismissed? While the cost of court costs and attorney fees are believed to be relatively comparable in both directions, the cost of preparing a case for a hearing is far less than the cost of getting an expunction set and prepared. This is because when an attorney prepares a case for a hearing to get a non-disclosure order entered when the law allows, an attorney may prepare ten to twenty cases for hearing at the same time, and thereby charge only a fraction of the normal fee to prepare the paperwork for the hearing . While there are no guarantees as to the end result, the fee for that hearing preparation is quite low.
Once my case is dismissed, how long will it take for the record to be clear of the arrest and case filing? After a court order has been entered in a Harris county proceeding the case should begin disappearing from the record in approximately three to six months. The clearing process itself is a complicated one that is ongoing and sometimes we will find additional steps are necessary. The biggest complication is usually in eliminating the record from social media. Even then it is clear that once a record has been inappropriately used against a person that there is little that can be done to prevent its harmful effect.
If the case is not dismissed, are there any other options remaining? At times the case has not been dismissed due to the fact that a motion was brought for the wrong expunction or nondisclosure. In that case the case can be dismissed by preparing a stock petition in the court’s style and asking for a standard order from the judge. At times there have been other problems with the case such as certain objections that have been filed. In the situation of an objecting DA in a case that should be granted, it may be necessary to appeal the case to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Texas if warranted.