Section 19.01 is the gateway provision for all of Texas homicide law. It does two things: it defines criminal homicide, and it divides that conduct into the four offenses that follow in Chapter 19.
What the Statute Says
(a) A person commits criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence causes the death of an individual.
(b) Criminal homicide is murder, capital murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide.
The Mental State Decides the Charge
Every homicide prosecution in Texas turns on which culpable mental state the State can prove. The conduct causing death may be identical across all four offenses; the mental state is what separates a state jail felony from a capital case.
| Offense | Mental state | Punishment range |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Murder (19.03) | Intentional murder plus an aggravating circumstance | Life without parole or death |
| Murder (19.02) | Intentionally or knowingly causing death; or intending serious bodily injury and committing an act clearly dangerous to human life; or felony murder | First-degree felony: 5 – 99 years or life |
| Manslaughter (19.04) | Recklessly causing death | Second-degree felony: 2 – 20 years |
| Criminally Negligent Homicide (19.05) | Criminal negligence | State jail felony: 180 days – 2 years |
The definitions of these mental states are found in Section 6.03. The difference between recklessness and criminal negligence is whether the accused was aware of the risk and disregarded it, or failed to perceive a risk they should have perceived. That single distinction is often worth 18 years.
Sudden Passion
Murder is a first-degree felony, but at the punishment stage a defendant may raise sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the jury finds it by a preponderance of the evidence, the punishment range drops to that of a second-degree felony — 2 to 20 years instead of 5 to 99. This is one of the most important tools in a Texas murder defense.
Lesser Included Offenses
Because all four offenses share the same result element, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide are frequently submitted to the jury as lesser included offenses of murder. Whether the trial court gives those instructions often determines the outcome, and it is a common source of appellate reversal.
Related
- Murder · Capital murder
- Intoxication manslaughter · Intoxication assault — Chapter 49 offenses, prosecuted separately from Chapter 19
- Self-defense · Castle doctrine · Blood stain pattern analysis · Staged crime scenes
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.