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Judge Boyd Grants Deferred Adjudication for Woman Who Entered No-Contest Plea in Family-Violence Case
Summary
Judge Stephanie Boyd deferred adjudication and imposed probation-like conditions after Patricia Adams pleaded no contest to a family-violence felony; the court ordered restrictions on contact, employment limits and treatment requirements.
Judge Stephanie Boyd, presiding judge of the 187th District Court, accepted a no-contest plea from Patricia Adams and deferred a finding of guilt in a family-violence case at a hearing in court.
The plea and sentence matter because the court entered an affirmative family-violence finding and imposed conditions that restrict Adams’ employment and contact with family members while placing her on deferred adjudication.
Adams, 25, entered a no-contest plea to a third-degree felony charge of assault-family/household member with a prior family-violence conviction. Defense attorney Michael De Leon confirmed Adams reviewed discovery and the court found the state in compliance.
After accepting the plea, Judge Boyd imposed four years of deferred adjudication, probated the $1,500 fine and ordered conditions that include no contact with the named victims, no unsupervised contact with minors, proof of employment within 45 days of release, and a ban on working as a home-health caregiver or in the health-care field. The court also ordered 150 hours of community service restitution, parenting classes (50 hours to be satisfied upon completion), and a hostility-management/aggression-control program known in court as HMAC; the TAP evaluation was ordered to be completed in custody with follow-through on recommendations. The court said that completing a trade school would reduce the community-service requirement by 100 hours.
Judge Boyd said she would not permit Adams to work as a home-health provider while on supervision, describing concern about supervision and safety given Adams’ prior record. The judge told Adams directly, “You shouldn't be hitting on your parents. You shouldn't be hitting on anyone.”
The court explained the consequences of an affirmative family-violence finding, including loss of the ability to possess weapons and potential limits on custodial presumptions. Probation will monitor compliance through monthly field visits, regular reporting by Zoom or in person, and random urine analyses. The court directed probation to oversee the listed programming and to return the case to court if further action is needed.
Adams waived her right to a jury trial and to appeal except on limited, prefiled motions. The court accepted State's Exhibit 1 (police report and attachments) into evidence and deferred the final finding of guilt while imposing the terms above.
The court closed the matter after confirming the conditions and advising Adams of the practical and legal limits of the sentence as ordered.
