Denton Criminal Attorney

Texas Death Penalty

Texas is one of the 38 states that use the death penalty as an option for punishment of certain crimes. In Texas, an individual must commit and be convicted of a capital felony. A capital felony is a felony in which an individual intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual under special circumstances.

The special circumstances for capital felony are: 1) the murder of a public safety officer, firefighter, or correctional employee; 2) murder during the commission of specified felonies (kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated rape, and arson); 3) murder for remuneration, multiple murders; 4) murder during a prison escape including murder of a correctional officer; 5) murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses; and 6) murder of an individual who has less than 6 years of age.

Texas law states that an individual must be at least 17 years of age at the time the crime was committed to receive the death penalty; however, the Supreme Court determined in Roper v Simmons (2005) that an individual must be 18 at the time the crime was committed to be eligible for the death penalty. This creates an interesting situation in Texas.

If the defendant in a capital felony case is found guilty, the case automatically goes to the Court of Criminal Appeals. If the defendant loses in the Court of Criminal Appeals, he or she is given the option of appealing his or her case to the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.

To avoid the death penalty, an individual may also apply for clemency from the governor. This permits the governor to delay the execution of an individual for up to 30 days without guidance from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Once this is done, the Board of Pardons and Paroles may recommend that the governor commute a sentence to life imprisonment. This must be approved by a majority vote of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Texas executes people by lethal injection as this is the only method that the Supreme Court has determined is not a form of cruel and unusual punishment. The state has executed more people since 1980 than any other state.