PENAL CODE CHAPTER 19.

TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON

CRIMINAL HOMICIDE

§ 19.01. TYPES OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE. (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.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Amended by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, § 1,
eff. Jan. 1, 1974; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff.
Sept. 1, 1994.

§ 19.02. MURDER. (a) In this section:
(1) "Adequate cause" means cause that would commonly
produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person
of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool
reflection.
(2) "Sudden passion" means passion directly caused by
and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another
acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of
the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.
(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.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under
this section is a felony of the first degree.
(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may
raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the
immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate
cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a
preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second
degree.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Amended by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, § 1,
eff. Jan. 1, 1974; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff.
Sept. 1, 1994.

§ 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; or
(8) the person murders an individual under six years
of age.
(b) An offense under this section is a capital felony.
(c) If the jury or, when authorized by law, the judge does
not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of
an offense under this section, he may be convicted of murder or of
any other lesser included offense.

Added by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, § 1, eff.
Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 5317, ch. 977,
§ 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 44, § 1,
eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 652, § 13, eff.
Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 715, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 887, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Acts
2003, 78th Leg., ch. 388, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

§ 19.04. MANSLAUGHTER. (a) A person commits an
offense if he recklessly causes the death of an individual.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 19.04 by Acts 1973, 63rd
Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended
by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 307, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 19.05 and amended by Acts
1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.

§ 19.05. CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE. (a) A person
commits an offense if he causes the death of an individual by
criminal negligence.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 19.06 by Acts 1973, 63rd
Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 19.07 and amended by Acts
1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.

§ 19.06. APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN CONDUCT. This
chapter does not apply to the death of an unborn child if the
conduct charged is:
(1) conduct committed by the mother of the unborn
child;
(2) a lawful medical procedure performed by a
physician or other licensed health care provider with the requisite
consent, if the death of the unborn child was the intended result of
the procedure;
(3) a lawful medical procedure performed by a
physician or other licensed health care provider with the requisite
consent as part of an assisted reproduction as defined by Section
160.102, Family Code; or
(4) the dispensation of a drug in accordance with law
or administration of a drug prescribed in accordance with law.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 822, § 2.02, eff. Sept. 1,
2003.

 

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