Waco Murder Defense Attorneys

Murder is a first-degree felony in Texas, with punishment of 5 to 99 years or life in prison. Capital murder is a capital felony, punishable by life without parole or death. These are the most serious cases in the Texas criminal justice system, and they operate under specialized rules including the bifurcated guilt/punishment trial structure, the capital voir dire process, the particular procedural protections that apply to capital cases, and the specific evidentiary rules that govern murder prosecution. The defense of a murder case requires resources, experience, and time that few practice areas demand.

Deandra Grant Law represents clients facing murder and capital murder charges in Waco, Hewitt, Woodway, Bellmead, and throughout McLennan County. Call (254) 735-3588 to discuss your case.

How Texas Defines Murder

Murder is defined in Texas Penal Code § 19.02. Contrary to the common-law language many out-of-state resources still use, Texas murder does not require “malice aforethought.” It requires one of three culpable states of mind described in § 19.02(b):

• Intentional or knowing conduct that causes the death of an individual (§ 19.02(b)(1)). The state must prove the defendant’s conscious objective was to cause death, or that the defendant was aware his conduct was reasonably certain to cause death.
• Intent to cause serious bodily injury combined with an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes death (§ 19.02(b)(2)). The state does not have to prove the defendant intended death (only serious bodily injury plus a clearly dangerous act that resulted in death).
• Felony murder (§ 19.02(b)(3)). A death caused during the commission, attempted commission, or immediate flight from a felony other than manslaughter, where the defendant committed an act clearly dangerous to human life. The state does not have to prove any intent to kill or injure. This is the doctrine by which a co-conspirator who never pulled a trigger can be convicted of murder.

Punishment for Murder

Murder is a first-degree felony. Under Texas Penal Code § 12.32, the punishment range is 5 to 99 years or life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and a fine of up to $10,000.

Sudden Passion

Texas Penal Code § 19.02(d) allows a defendant to raise sudden passion arising from adequate cause at the punishment phase. If the jury (or judge, in a bench trial on punishment) finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause, the offense is punished as a second-degree felony (2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000). Sudden passion does not reduce the conviction; it reduces the punishment range. The jury still finds the defendant guilty of murder.

Capital Murder

Capital murder is defined in Texas Penal Code § 19.03. A person commits capital murder by committing murder under § 19.02(b)(1) (intentionally or knowingly causing death) plus one or more aggravating circumstances. As of the 2023 legislative session, there are ten aggravators:

• Murder of a peace officer or fireman acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty, when the defendant knows the victim’s status (§ 19.03(a)(1)).
• Intentional murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, or a terroristic threat under § 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6) (§ 19.03(a)(2)).
• Murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration, or hiring another to commit murder for remuneration (§ 19.03(a)(3)).
• Murder while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution (§ 19.03(a)(4)).
• Murder by a person incarcerated in a penal institution of an employee of the institution, or murder with intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a criminal combination (§ 19.03(a)(5)).
• Murder by a person while incarcerated for capital murder, murder, or serving a life or 99-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, or aggravated robbery (§ 19.03(a)(6)).
• Murder of more than one person during the same criminal transaction, or during different transactions pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct (§ 19.03(a)(7)).
• Murder of an individual under 10 years of age (§ 19.03(a)(8)).
• Murder of an individual 10 years of age or older but younger than 15 (§ 19.03(a)(9), added by Lauren’s Law). The death penalty is not available when this is the sole aggravating factor.
• Murder in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of a judge or justice of any listed Texas court (§ 19.03(a)(10)).

Punishment for Capital Murder

Capital murder is a capital felony. Under Texas Penal Code § 12.31, if the state seeks the death penalty and the defendant was 18 or older at the time of the offense, punishment is either death or life without parole, determined by jury answers to the special issues in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071. If the state does not seek death, or if the defendant was under 18 at the time of the offense (United States Supreme Court, Roper v. Simmons), the punishment is mandatory life without parole. There is no parole eligibility on a capital murder conviction.

Other Offenses

Chapter 19 of the Penal Code includes two offenses that often become the actual focus of plea negotiation or a lesser-included instruction at trial.

Manslaughter (§ 19.04)

Recklessly causing the death of another. Second-degree felony; 2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Criminally Negligent Homicide (§ 19.05)

Causing the death of another by criminal negligence. State jail felony; 180 days to 2 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Intoxication Manslaughter (§ 49.08)

A death caused by the defendant’s intoxication while operating a motor vehicle, watercraft, aircraft, or amusement ride. Second-degree felony; 2 to 20 years, a fine of up to $10,000, and 240 to 800 hours of community service. Enhanced to first-degree felony (5 to 99 years or life) if the victim is a peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel on duty.

Defenses to Murder Charges in Texas

The fact that someone died does not mean someone committed murder. Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code codifies the justifications that remove criminal liability for conduct that would otherwise be a crime. In McLennan County murder cases, the following justifications and defenses are routinely in play:

Self-Defense (§ 9.31) and Deadly Force in Defense of Person (§ 9.32)

A person is justified in using force (and, in circumstances specified in § 9.32, deadly force) against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.

Castle Doctrine and No Duty to Retreat

Under § 9.32(b), a defendant’s belief that deadly force was immediately necessary is presumed reasonable when the other person was unlawfully and with force entering, or had unlawfully and with force entered, the defendant’s occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business, subject to statutory conditions. Under § 9.31(e), a defendant who is in a place the defendant has a right to be, is not engaged in criminal activity, and did not provoke the other person has no duty to retreat before using force or deadly force.

Defense of a Third Person (§ 9.33) and Defense of Property (§§ 9.41–9.43)

Texas also justifies the use of force in defense of another person and, in specified circumstances, the use of force and deadly force to protect land or tangible, movable property.

Other Defenses

• Mistaken identification, which remains one of the leading causes of wrongful murder convictions.
• Challenges to forensic evidence (ex. DNA transfer and mixture interpretation, bullet and cartridge case comparison, bloodstain pattern analysis, autopsy findings, and cell-site location information).
• Accomplice witness corroboration under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.14.
• Alibi.
• Insanity under Penal Code § 8.01, an affirmative defense that must be proved by a preponderance.
• Involuntary intoxication under § 8.04 (not a defense but may be used in mitigation)

Bail in a McLennan County Murder Case

Article I, § 11 of the Texas Constitution makes all prisoners bailable except for capital offenses when the proof is evident. In practice, this means:

• A defendant charged with murder is entitled to a reasonable bail. The amount is set with reference to the factors in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 17.15, including the nature of the offense, the defendant’s ability to make bail, future safety of the community, and likelihood of appearance.
• A defendant charged with capital murder can be held without bail only if the state establishes at a hearing that the proof is evident (a standard higher than probable cause) and only if the state is seeking the death penalty.
• A writ of habeas corpus under Article 11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is the procedural vehicle for contesting a no-bail hold or an excessive bail.