In general, the crime of murder in Texas is referred to as “criminal homicide.” Homicide is the killing of another human being. The intentional, knowing, and unlawful killing of another is murder. There are four classes of criminal homicide in Texas, i.e., murder, capital murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide.
All classes of the offense of murder are felonies of the first degree. However, capital murder is considered the most culpable of the classes of murder.
A person perpetrates murder when they intentionally or recklessly kill another person. Or a person may intentionally hurt another person and do so in a manner that is so dangerous that it causes the person to perish.
Lastly, a person commits felony murder when they perpetrate or attempt to perpetrate a serious criminal offense, e.g., robbery, and in the process, they do something so perilous that it causes another person to die. In all of these cases, the crime is a type of murder.
Manslaughter is causing the death of another human being through recklessness. Recklessness for the purpose of the law of manslaughter requires that the perpetrator be aware of the risks inherent in their conduct. Or, the perpetrator should know that the death of another person could result from their conduct, and still, they engaged in the conduct regardless of the known or recognized risk.
The prosecution does not have to prove that the perpetrator intended the death or knew that death would result from their actions to win a conviction of manslaughter. Rather, the perpetrator must recognize that their conduct poses a risk of death to others.
Criminally negligent homicide is causing the demise of another person accidentally while engaged in conduct that is unreasonable and reckless. The perpetrator of criminally negligent homicide disregards clear and obvious risks and, in doing so, causes the death of another. Vehicular homicide committed while a person is driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, speeding or driving while distracted, e.g. while texting, is a criminally negligent homicide.
What Exactly Is a “Sudden Fit of Passion”?
A person who commits murder intentionally in a fit of passion and without having planned it ahead of time can have their charge reduced to a second-degree felony. A “sudden fit of passion” is an intense emotional experience such as a fit of rage. For example, a spouse who discovers their partner committing adultery may experience a momentary fit of anger or wish for punishment or revenge that may lead them to kill either or both of the people involved.
A defendant may be able to convince the court that the murder they committed was motivated by an unexpected burst of rage or other experience of intense, overwhelming emotion. If so, the murder charge is reduced to a second-degree felony.
Differences Between Murder and Capital Murder
There are 10 conditions in which a murder qualifies as a capital murder. Murder-for-hire, i.e., one person pays another to commit a murder for them, murder of a police officer or fireman, and murder committed by a person while they are escaping from jail or prison, are all examples of capital murder in Texas. There are other circumstances that qualify a murder as capital murder in Texas.
Of course, the main difference between murder and capital murder is the fact that capital murder is punishable by execution by lethal injection. Lethal injection in Texas is an injection with a single drug protocol of Pentobarbital. Most perpetrators of capital murder also spend time incarcerated on Texas’s Death Row for an average of about 11 years before they are executed.
When Is Murder a Federal Charge?
In the majority of cases, local district attorneys prosecute the crime of murder as a state crime in state courts. However, murder is a federal crime when the offense violates federal law or when it takes place on federal land or territory, e.g., in a national park. For example, the murder of a federal official is a federal criminal offense.
What Is the Murder Penalty in Texas?
Murder is a first-degree felony in Texas. The punishment is a term of imprisonment of 5 to 99 years and payment of a fine of up to $10,000.
Manslaughter in Texas is a second-degree felony. Sentences typically range from 2 to 20 years in state prison and payment of a fine of up to $10,000.
Criminally negligent homicide is a so-called “state jail felony.” The punishment is imprisonment of 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility and payment of a fine of up to $10,000.
Does Capital Murder Carry the Same Criminal Penalty as Murder?
As noted above, the maximum punishment for capital murder is death by lethal injection. Murder that is not a capital offense cannot be punished by the imposition of death.
Is Self-Defense a Defense to a Charge of Murder in Texas?
Texas law provides that a person may use force against another person only when they reasonably believe that they must use force to protect themselves against the other person’s use of force. There are some qualifications for self-defense as follows:
- The person had to use force to stop another person’s use of illegal violence against themselves;
- The person did not provoke or prompt the other person to use force, e.g., by challenging them to a fight;
- The person was not perpetrating criminal acts when the other person used force against them.
A person’s right to self-defense also applies when a person has to defend their property under certain circumstances. Generally speaking, a person does not have a legal obligation to retreat in Texas before using force in self-defense. In addition, people in Texas do have the right to use deadly force in self-defense in some circumstances.
According to Texas law, a person may use deadly force if another person attempts to break into or otherwise unlawfully enter their vehicle, home, office, or other workplace. But deadly force can only be used where it is justified, usually because deadly force is used against the person who defends themselves. In addition, Texas’s self-defense laws can apply to the defense of others.
The Texas version of a “stand your ground” law, the “Castle Doctrine,” provides a defense to a person who uses reasonable force against another person who breaks into or unlawfully enters their office, workplace, home, or vehicle. Or, a person could show that they themselves were taken from their office, workplace, home, or vehicle, which essentially means that they were kidnapped.
This does not mean that a person can use lethal force against a person who comes to the doorstep of their residence and rings their doorbell. This is because the person at the door has not broken into or unlawfully entered their property.
In addition, a person who uses force in defense of themselves or their property must use force that is reasonable. So, for example, if other attempts to perpetrate aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, murder, or robbery against them, a person may respond with the use of reasonable force or force that is proportionate.
So, for example, suppose that X insults his co-worker, Y, at their place of employment. Y then attacks X physically. X pulls a gun out of his pocket and shoots Y dead. X may not use the defense of self-defense because the lethal force he used against Y was not reasonable under the circumstances. Y did not use lethal force against Y.
Defenses of Insanity and Crime of Passion
Texas recognizes the insanity defense. To succeed with the insanity defense, a person charged with murder must admit that they committed the murder with which they are charged. They may then claim that they did not recognize that their actions were wrong because they suffer from a severe mental disease or defect.
If a defendant presents the insanity defense to a jury and the jury accepts it, the defendant is relieved of any and all criminal responsibility for the crime charge.
In a case of criminally negligent homicide, the defendant can claim that they did not recognize or realize the risk posed by their actions. Or they might claim that their conduct did not, in reality, have any effect on the events that followed. If a defendant is successful with these claims, they might function as a complete defense to a charge of criminally negligent homicide.
A claim of crime of passion operates to reduce a murder offense to a second-degree felony for the purpose of punishment. Texas law refers to “sudden passion,” meaning overpowering emotion that directly results from a provocation by the person killed or another acting with the person killed. This powerful emotional impulse must come upon a person at the time they commit a criminal offense. It cannot be the result of a provocation at another time.
Moreover, this strong emotional response must have a cause that is “adequate” under the law. This means that the cause is one that would produce a comparable response in most other people. The emotion could be anger, outrage, resentment, or terror of a type that overwhelms a person’s reason.
If the defendant proves “sudden passion” by a preponderance of the evidence at the punishment phase of their trial, the offense becomes a second-degree felony.
Do I Need the Help of a Lawyer for My Murder Charge Issue?
If you have been charged with any of the offenses classified as murder in Texas, you most definitely want to consult a local Texas criminal lawyer. You need an attorney to review the facts of your case and determine if any defenses are available to you.
LegalMatch.com can connect you to a lawyer who can explain your rights to you and represent you in court. They can also negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecution if that is the best course of action for you to take.
