30 Jun 2012
A driver has been arrested in what represents the 40th traffic fatality in Austin in 2012. According to a KXAN article published on June 28, the driver of a Mazda crashed his car into a pickup truck early Sunday morning, causing a person in the passenger seat of the pickup to be ejected from the vehicle. The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. It is alleged that after the collision, the driver of the Mazda, along with five passengers in his vehicle, fled the scene.
Witness accounts of the incident suggest that the Mazda was traveling at 70 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, and ran a red light just prior to colliding with the pickup truck. The driver was identified first through a trace of his vehicle, and later through a photo identification lineup. The driver was arrested and charged with manslaughter.
The important thing to recognize about the crime of hit and run, often referred to as leaving the scene of an accident, is that the offense consists of failing to stop at the scene if you are operating a vehicle involved in an accident. The offense is generally a misdemeanor under chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. A number of crimes are defined under that chapter having to deal with failure to stop at the scene if you are operating a vehicle involved in an accident. The classification of the offense, and the penalties associated with it, depend largely upon the results of the accident. Where the accident results in serious bodily injury or, as in the recent crash, the accident results in the death of an individual, the crime is a third degree felony.
While the driver of the Mazda may have been cited for additional offenses and/or violations, the article cited above makes no mention of a hit and run charge, or for that matter any other charge under the Transportation Code. It says merely that the driver was charged with manslaughter. That brings us to the Texas Penal Code, defining criminal homicide, the offenses in which a person causes the death of another human being.
Criminal homicide in Texas consists of “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence” causing the death of another person. The categories of criminal homicide are murder; capital murder; manslaughter; and criminally negligent homicide. Murder includes a number of variations.
A murder conviction requires that the defendant intentionally or knowingly cause a death; or intentionally cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that results in a death; or commits or attempts to commit a felony (other than manslaughter), and in furtherance of the felony or the attempt, or in immediate flight, commits or attempts to commit a clearly dangerous act which results in death. This latter category is often referred to as “felony murder.” Capital murder is murder with an additional factor, including murder of a peace officer in the line of duty, murder while committing or attempting to commit certain serious felonies such as kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, etc.
The essential difference between murder, on the one hand, and manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, on the other, is that neither manslaughter nor criminally negligent homicide requires specific intent to cause death, to cause injury, or to commit a felony. The behavior necessary to support a conviction in those cases involves only recklessness or criminal negligence, which are defined as follows:
- Recklessness. A finding of recklessness requires an awareness and conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a particular result will occur. The disregard must be a gross deviation from the standard of care that would be exercised by an ordinary person.
- Criminal negligence. This is lower on the culpability scale than recklessness, requiring only that the person ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of a particular result. It also requires that the risk is such that failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from ordinary standards, but it does not require a conscious disregard of the risk.
Under Texas law, manslaughter requires reckless behavior, while negligent homicide requires criminal negligence. Because of the higher level of culpability involved with manslaughter, it is treated more harshly than negligent homicide. Accordingly, manslaughter is a second degree felony punishable by between two and 20 years in prison, while negligent homicide is a state jail felony, which carries a sentence of between six months and two years.
In the recent hit and run case, the driver was charged with manslaughter, and we assume that this was based upon the fact that he ran a red light at 70 miles per hour, over twice the speed limit on that street. We understand that it is not always easy to distinguish between reckless behavior and behavior that is merely negligent. Of course, that is what juries are for, and we will follow this case as it moves through the court system.
If you have been charged with homicide, contact an Austin homicide lawyer who knows the law and who can provide you with the highest quality legal representation.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
1205 Rio Grande Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737