Homicide Crimes Lawyer In Conroe, TX
The homicide charges covered here involve a death that no one intended, and what separates them is the mental state the state can prove. That difference moves the range from a state jail felony to twenty years in prison, and this page explains the offenses and how a felony case moves through Montgomery County.
How Does Texas Law Define Criminal Homicide?
Penal Code Chapter 19 defines criminal homicide as causing the death of an individual with a culpable mental state. The mental state sets the offense: recklessness is manslaughter, a second degree felony, and criminal negligence is criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony. A death caused by an intoxicated driver is charged separately as intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Homicide Crimes In Montgomery County?
Chapter 19 of the Penal Code treats a death as a crime only when it comes with a culpable mental state. For a death no one meant to cause, two mental states matter: recklessness and criminal negligence. Each has its own statute, and a fatal crash brings in further statutes of its own.
Manslaughter under § 19.04 is a death caused by consciously disregarding a known risk. Criminally negligent homicide under § 19.05 is a death caused by failing to notice a risk that should have been obvious. The act can be identical in both. The mental state decides the charge.
How the law sorts a death by mental state:
- A risk known and taken anyway is manslaughter
- A risk missed that should have been seen is criminally negligent homicide
- A death in a crash is vehicular manslaughter, which Texas charges under one of four statutes
- A death caused by an intoxicated driver is intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08, which needs no proof of recklessness or negligence
Killing intentionally or knowingly is a different offense, murder under § 19.02. The pages in this category cover deaths that were not intended.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Homicide Crimes In Texas?
All of the offenses in this category are felonies. The ranges that follow are the limits the statutes set, not forecasts for any particular case.
Fine of up to $10,000.
- Manslaughter, § 19.04
- Second degree felony. 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. No limitation period.
- Criminally negligent homicide, § 19.05
- State jail felony. 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility. Third degree punishment, 2 to 10 years, if a deadly weapon was used or exhibited.
- Intoxication manslaughter, § 49.08
- Second degree felony. 2 to 20 years, and a judge cannot grant community supervision.
- Murder, § 19.02
- First degree felony. Five to ninety-nine years or life. Capital murder under § 19.03 carries life without parole, or death for an adult defendant.
A conviction for any of these offenses is a permanent public record. A death can also bring a civil wrongful death claim, which runs on its own track and under its own rules.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Homicide Charges In Texas?
Is every death caused by another person a crime?
How does causation work?
Can the charge be reduced?
Why does a deadly weapon finding matter?
How long does a homicide investigation take?
Possible Defenses
How Can Homicide Charges Be Defended?
A homicide charge rests on more than the death itself. The state has to prove the mental state, prove that the accused's conduct caused the death, and overcome any legal justification the evidence raises.
An attorney tests each part on its own, because a weakness in one can change the charge or end it. The defense can also request the state's evidence under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 39.14. No result can be promised.
Justification and causation are written into the Penal Code.
Section 9.32 allows deadly force when a person reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect against another's unlawful deadly force or to prevent certain violent crimes. When the evidence raises it, the state has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
The evidence in these cases often includes statements, phone and vehicle data, crash reconstruction, toxicology and the medical cause of death.
Mental State
Can the state prove 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?
Justification
Does the evidence raise self-defense, and can the state disprove it?
Statements
Were statements voluntary, properly warned and accurately recorded?
Crash Evidence
Do the reconstruction, vehicle data and toxicology agree with 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 Montgomery County?
After an arrest, the person is booked at the Montgomery County Jail and a magistrate sets bond. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office then presents the case to a grand jury. A felony is prosecuted by indictment unless the accused waives it, and felony cases in Conroe are heard in the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center, a different building from the misdemeanor courts.
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 art. 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 Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St.
- Who prosecutes
- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, from the same building.
- Fatal crash cases
- The DA's Office runs a dedicated Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes and handles intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault and fatal hit and run cases.
- Who makes the arrest
- Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Montgomery County Constables, Precincts 1 through 5, Willis Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Oak Ridge North Police Department, Magnolia Police Department, Splendora Police Department, or Roman Forest Police Department.
- Booking
- The Montgomery County Jail at 1 Criminal Justice Drive, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
- If the case is appealed
- Appeals go to the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont. A death sentence is appealed directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
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.
Use Your Right To Silence
You can decline an interview and ask for a lawyer before answering anything.
Keep It Private
Do not discuss the event with friends or family, or post about it online.
Preserve Evidence
Do not delete or alter phones, messages, photos or vehicles.
Write It Down
Put your own memory on paper, for your attorney only.
Save Every Paper
Keep any warrant, summons, bond paper or court notice you receive.
Call Early
If you know an investigation exists, reach a lawyer before any charge is filed.
Mitchell Law Firm offers a private, confidential conversation about a death investigation or homicide charge in Montgomery County. The earlier it happens, the more options may remain 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 12: Limitation periods
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A: Community supervision
- 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 Conroe 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 Conroe
Manslaughter
A death caused by reckless conduct under § 19.04. A second degree felony with a 2 to 20 year range and no limitation period.
Vehicular Manslaughter
Not a Texas statute. A fatal crash is charged under one of four felonies, from state jail felony to second degree.
Criminally Negligent Homicide
A death the state says came from a failure to see a serious risk. A state jail felony, with third degree punishment if a deadly weapon is found.
Common Questions
Homicide Charge Questions People In Conroe Ask
What is the difference between manslaughter and negligent homicide in Conroe, TX?
Manslaughter under Penal Code § 19.04 requires 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 perceived that risk and did not. Manslaughter is a second degree felony, and criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony.
How is a fatal car crash charged in Montgomery County?
Texas has no statute named vehicular manslaughter. A fatal crash is charged as manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, intoxication manslaughter under Penal Code § 49.08, or failure to stop and render aid under Transportation Code § 550.021 when the driver left. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office has a Vehicular Crimes Unit that responds directly to crash scenes.
Where are homicide cases heard in Conroe, TX?
Every homicide offense is a felony. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office presents the case to a grand jury, and an indicted case is heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St. The District Attorney's Office is in the same building. Booking after an arrest is at the Montgomery County Jail.
Can a Montgomery County homicide charge be reduced to a lesser offense?
Because the homicide offenses differ mainly by mental state, a jury can be instructed on a lesser included offense, such as criminally negligent homicide in a manslaughter trial, when the evidence supports it. A reduction by agreement, a dismissal, a plea and a trial are also outcomes that exist in the system. Which is available depends on the evidence.
What if police want to question me about a death in Conroe, TX?
A person has the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer before questioning. What a person says about what they knew or meant is often central in a homicide case. 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
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
A homicide investigation can go on for weeks before a grand jury hears it. Call or request a consultation to go over the case from the start.
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