A Proven Defense Attorney For Murder Charges in Houston

(Criminal Homicide and Murder Case Results)

Call 713-228-4607 To Schedule a Consultation to Review Your Case

Jack B. Carroll will appear in criminal courts in all the Texas jurisdictions listed below.

Brazoria · Chambers · Fort Bend · Galveston

Harris · Liberty · Montgomery · San Jacinto · Waller

Jack B. Carroll is also admitted into federal courts nationally.

Criminally Negligent Homicide

Criminal Negligence is generally defined as when a person takes an action which is so dire in nature that it can cause a loss of life and that any average person’s precautions which may have prevented the homicide were not in use.

Sec. 19.05.  CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE.  (a)  A person commits an offense if he causes the death of an individual by criminal negligence.

Source: Texas Penal Code Title 5, Chapter 19. Criminal Homicide

Punishment Range: State Jail Felony – 180 Days to 2 Years State Jail time.

Criminal Manslaughter Charges

Sec. 19.04. MANSLAUGHTER. (a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly causes the death of an individual.

Source: Texas Penal Code Title 5, Chapter 19. Criminal Homicide

Special Note: There is no burden on the prosecution to prove intent, or specific intent that the accused intended to kill anyone, if the defendant acted recklessly.

Punishment Range: 2nd Degree Felony – 2  to 20 Years TDC.

Criminal Murder Charges

Sec. 19.02. MURDER. (b) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual;

(2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual; or

(3) commits or attempts to commit a felony, other than manslaughter, and in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt, or in immediate flight from the commission or attempt, he commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual.

Source: Texas Penal Code Title 5, Chapter 19. Criminal Homicide

Punishment Range: 1st Degree Felony – 5 to 99 Years TDC.

Capital Murder Charges

The Definition of Capital Murder as illustrated by Chapter 19 of the Texas Penal Code

A person commits capital murder if he or she intentionally or knowingly:

Sec. 19.03. CAPITAL MURDER. (a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:

(1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the person knows is a peace officer or fireman;

(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6);

(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;

(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution;

(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal institution, murders another: (A) who is employed in the operation of the penal institution; or (B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;

(6) the person: (A) while incarcerated for an offense under this section or Section 19.02, murders another; or (B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another;

(7) the person murders more than one person: (A) during the same criminal transaction; or (B) during different criminal transactions but the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct;

(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of age; or

(9) the person murders another person in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a justice court, or a municipal court.

Source: Texas Penal Code Title 5, Chapter 19. Criminal Homicide

Punishment: Life Without Parole, or the Death Penalty