Homicide Crimes Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Texas homicide offenses are separated by what the person knew or failed to notice when the death happened. That mental state moves a charge from a state jail felony to as much as life, and this page covers each offense and how a felony case moves through Jefferson County.
What Are Homicide Crimes In Texas?
Criminal homicide in Texas means causing a death with a culpable mental state. Penal Code Chapter 19 grades the offenses by that state of mind: murder for intent or knowledge, manslaughter for recklessness, and criminally negligent homicide for failing to see a serious risk. Intoxication manslaughter in Chapter 49 covers deaths caused by intoxicated drivers.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Homicide Crimes?
Chapter 19 of the Penal Code treats a death as a crime only when the person who caused it acted with a culpable mental state. A single event can be filed under more than one section. The dispute that matters is what the prosecution can prove the person knew or perceived.
Manslaughter rests on recklessness, which means awareness of a serious risk and a choice to ignore it. Criminally negligent homicide rests on failing to notice a risk that an ordinary person would have noticed.
Texas ranks a death by the mental state behind it:
- Intentional or knowing killing is murder under § 19.02
- Reckless killing is manslaughter under § 19.04
- Killing through criminal negligence is criminally negligent homicide under § 19.05
- Killing while intoxicated and driving is intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08, with no mental state required as to the death itself
A death on the road has no statute of its own. The vehicular manslaughter page lays out the statutes prosecutors use instead, and intoxication manslaughter has its own page.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Homicide Crimes In Texas?
All of these offenses are felonies. The ranges below are statutory limits set by the Legislature, not predictions for any one case.
- Murder, § 19.02
- First degree felony. Five to ninety-nine years or life, and a fine up to $10,000. Punished as a second degree felony if sudden passion is proven at punishment.
- Manslaughter, § 19.04
- Second degree felony. Two to twenty years and a fine up to $10,000.
- Intoxication manslaughter, § 49.08
- Second degree felony. Two to twenty years, with no judge-ordered community supervision.
- Criminally negligent homicide, § 19.05
- State jail felony. 180 days to two years in a state jail, or two to ten years where a deadly weapon finding applies under § 12.35(c).
- Deadly weapon finding
- When a firearm or vehicle caused the death, the state can seek this finding. It limits community supervision and delays parole eligibility. The 3g offenses page explains the rules.
A conviction for any of these offenses is a permanent public record. A death case can also bring a separate civil claim, which runs on its own track.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Homicide Charges In Texas?
Is every death another person causes a crime?
How does causation work in a homicide case?
What is sudden passion?
How long does a homicide investigation take?
Possible Defenses
How Can Homicide Charges Be Defended?
A homicide indictment alleges more than a death. The prosecution must also prove the mental state, that the accused's conduct caused the death, and, where the evidence raises justification, that the conduct was not legally justified.
An attorney evaluates each part on its own, because weakness in one can change the charge or remove it. No result can be promised.
The verdict is not limited to the charge in the indictment.
When a jury hears a murder charge, the court can instruct it on manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide as lesser included offenses if the evidence supports them. The distance between those verdicts is the distance between a first degree felony and a state jail felony.
Under § 9.32, deadly force is justified when a person reasonably believes it is immediately necessary against another's unlawful deadly force. Evidence issues include statements, searches of phones and vehicles, forensic testing and the medical cause of death.
Mental State
Can the state prove intent, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, or only a lower state of mind?
Causation
Did the accused's conduct cause the death, or did another cause stand alone?
Self-Defense
Does the evidence raise justification, and can the state disprove it?
Statements
Were statements voluntary, warned and accurately recorded?
Forensics
Do the autopsy, ballistic, DNA and toxicology results support the state's account?
Lesser Offenses
Would the facts support a lower homicide offense, or none at all?
Local Process
How Does A Homicide Case Move Through Jefferson County?
A homicide charge is a felony from the first hour. After booking, a magistrate sets bond, and the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office presents the case to a grand jury. The Texas Constitution requires a felony indictment unless the accused waives it.
Arrest And Magistrate
A magistrate explains the charge and the person's rights and sets bond.
Grand Jury
The prosecutor presents the case, and the grand jury decides whether to indict and on what offense.
Arraignment And Discovery
In district court the defense can obtain the state's evidence under Code of Criminal Procedure article 39.14.
Plea Or Trial
The case ends in dismissal, a plea, or a trial before a judge or jury.
- Where it is heard
- After indictment, in the district courts at the Jefferson County Courthouse on 1085 Pearl Street, inside the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1085 Pearl Street.
- Who prosecutes
- The Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
- Who makes the arrest
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department.
- Booking
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont. A death sentence goes directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
- Related federal charges
- Filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division.
Next Steps
What Should You Do If You Are Investigated For Or Charged With Homicide?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Stay Silent
Decline to answer questions and ask for a lawyer.
Do Not Discuss It
Do not talk about the event with friends, family or on social media.
Preserve Evidence
Do not delete or alter phones, messages, photos or vehicles.
Write It Down
Record your memory for your attorney only.
Keep Every Paper
Save bond papers, warrants, summonses and court notices.
Call Before Charges
If you know an investigation exists, reach a lawyer before any charge is filed.
Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about a homicide investigation or charge in Jefferson County. An early call keeps more options open.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 19: Criminal homicide
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 49: Intoxication manslaughter
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 6: Culpable mental states and causation
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 9: Justification, including self-defense
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment for felonies
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550: Duties after a collision
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Homicide Charges
Homicide Charges We Handle In Beaumont
Manslaughter
A death caused recklessly. A second degree felony, 2 to 20 years, with no statute of limitations.
Vehicular Manslaughter
No Texas statute carries this name. A death caused by a driver is filed under one of four felony statutes.
Criminally Negligent Homicide
A death caused through criminal negligence. A state jail felony, raised by a deadly weapon finding.
Common Questions
Homicide Charge Questions People In Beaumont Ask
What is the difference between manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Beaumont, TX?
Manslaughter under Penal Code § 19.04 requires proof that the person was aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death and consciously disregarded it. Criminally negligent homicide under § 19.05 requires only that the person should have been aware of the risk and was not. Manslaughter is a second degree felony. Criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony.
How is a fatal crash charged in Jefferson County?
Texas has no offense named vehicular manslaughter. A death caused by a driver is filed under Penal Code § 19.04 for manslaughter, § 19.05 for criminally negligent homicide, or § 49.08 for intoxication manslaughter. If the driver left, Transportation Code § 550.021 can also apply. The statute selected determines the punishment range.
Where is a homicide case heard in Beaumont, TX?
Every homicide offense is a felony, so the case goes before a Jefferson County grand jury and, if indicted, to a district court in the county courthouse on Pearl Street. An appeal from a conviction goes to the Ninth Court of Appeals, which sits in Beaumont. A death sentence is appealed directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
How does self-defense work in a homicide case in Jefferson County?
Penal Code § 9.32 justifies deadly force when a person reasonably believes it is immediately necessary against another's unlawful deadly force, or to stop certain violent crimes. Once the evidence raises self-defense, the state carries the burden of disproving it beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury is instructed on it.
Can a homicide charge in Beaumont, TX be reduced to a lesser offense?
Because the offenses differ by mental state, a lesser offense can be submitted to a jury when the evidence supports it, and a prosecutor can negotiate toward a lesser charge. Dismissal, a plea and trial are the other outcomes the system provides. Which one applies depends on the evidence in the specific file.
Should I talk to investigators about a death in Jefferson County before I have a lawyer?
A person has the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer before questioning. What a person knew or intended is often the center of a homicide case, so early statements carry weight. Anyone contacted by investigators can politely decline an interview and speak with an attorney first, whether or not an arrest has been made.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Start With The Evidence
A homicide investigation can run for months before a grand jury hears it. Call or request a consultation to go through the case from the beginning.
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