Exam 5: Criminal Homicide

Manslaughter is an appropriate charge for an individual who caused a death through his risky and dangerous behavior even though he did not intend to kill anyone.

Vic decides to make money selling illicit drugs.Harry approaches Vic about buying some drugs.Vic tells Harry to meet him at midnight behind a local bar and bring $10,000.At midnight,Harry shows up at the appointed place but instead of Vic selling him drugs,Vic shoots Harry dead and takes the $10,000.The next day,Vic reads in the newspaper that Harry was an undercover police officer.As to the police officer's death,Vic has committed capital murder because:

Under Texas law,the primary test for determining whether or not an individual is legally dead is known as __________ death.

The intentional or knowing killing of any Texas public employee is treated as a capital murder under the Penal Code.

Jack kidnaps Jill with the intention of sexually assaulting her.He drives her to a secluded location but as he is attempting to assault her,she jumps from the car and runs down the road.Jack drives after her and strikes her with the car,killing Jill immediately.Jack has committed capital murder,not just murder,because he ___________ killed Jill during the course of the kidnapping and sexual assault.

Under the Texas Penal Code,an _______________ is "a human being who is alive,including an unborn child."

Although it is almost always proven in murder cases,_________ is actually an element of the offense only in certain forms of capital murder.

If a person is a previously convicted felon,any death he or she causes in the future is treated as a murder under the felony murder rule.

While fleeing in his car following the robbery of a liquor store,Jesse inadvertently strikes and kills Frank,a pedestrian crossing the street.Jesse can properly be convicted of murder under the application of the ____ murder rule.

Joan is driving to work one morning.Because she is running late she did not put on her daily make-up.So,she decides to apply her mascara while driving down the road.While concentrating on applying the mascara,she neglects to notice a red traffic signal ahead.Other cars are stopped but her vehicle collides into the rear of the vehicle in front of her.The collision causes an infant in the back seat to be thrown forward and killed.Joan has committed criminally negligent homicide because she ________ to have perceived the risk that her behavior could cause harm.

John is driving his sports car at 110 miles an hour in a 45 mile per hour speed zone.The roadway is a windy and hilly rural two-lane road.The sports car tops a hill just as a farmer pulling a wagon with a tractor is crossing the road just beyond the crest of the hill.John is unable to avoid the tractor and crashes into it.The farmer is killed instantly as is a farmhand who is riding on the trailer.Under Texas law,the most serious offense John has committed is:

The Texas criminal homicide statutes punish the unlawful killing of an "individual." Which of the following is a factor that must be established to prove the victim meets the statutory definition of an "individual"?

In Texas,more individuals annually die of non-criminal homicides than criminal homicides.

In Texas,an intentional or knowing killing can be elevated from murder to capital murder if one of the qualifying circumstances exists.Identify five different statutory circumstances that will elevate a murder to a capital murder.Do NOT answer with examples.

For conduct to constitute a criminal homicide,generally there must not only be a death but a _____(three words)_____.

Deaths resulting from careless handling of firearms are generally treated as the offense of murder under Texas law.