While the pace of executions has slowed in recent years, Texas is not a good state for facing charges carrying the death penalty. Even during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Texas executed three people in 2020 – one of only two states to execute anyone that year – and delayed or withdrew eight more execution dates, mostly because of the pandemic. Executions in Texas hit a high in 2000 at 40, but even with the drop in 2020, Texas has averaged 10 executions annually since 2010. The state has executed 571 people since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1974, far more than any other state. While the odds of actually receiving a death sentence are declining in Texas, as is the likelihood of such a sentence being carried out, if you face charges involving capital punishment, do not hesitate – talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney at the Madrid Law Firm.
Even in Texas, Capital Crimes are Limited
Basically, capital punishment in Texas can only be handed down in certain cases of murder. The circumstances that raise the potential of a death penalty are, realistically, not the sort of circumstances most people end up facing. In fact, most people will never be in a position in which the death penalty could be invoked. However, people do find themselves accused of circumstances that could result in the death penalty. Such circumstances are:
- Killing a police officer or a firefighter who is on duty
- Killing someone in course of committing specific felonies, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, arson, burglary, robbery, among others
- Killing more than a single person during the same criminal act, including serial killing
- ·Killing someone for pay, or paying a person to kill someone
- Killing someone if you are in prison for murder or in prison for a sentence of 99 years or life without parole on charges of robbery, sexual assault, or aggravated kidnapping
- Killing a judge in retaliation for a judicial decision
- Killing someone younger than 15 years old
- Killing an employee of the jail or prison in which you are incarcerated
- Killing someone while attempting to escape from prison
Those circumstances are fairly particular and might even seem to be limited. However, it is not hard to imagine some of these circumstances arising, particularly if you are involved in criminal activity. Events that many people consider to be unlikely are not unlikely for some people. And if you find yourself in a situation in which the death penalty could apply, pretending that is not the case is not a realistic option. You need to treat the potential of the death penalty as the serious matter that it obviously is. Hope is not a plan.
If You are Facing Charges That Carry the Death Penalty, Contact Madrid Law Firm
The best plan is to never put yourself in a situation where the death penalty might be in play. After all, that means that you have killed someone, and no matter how justified that might have been, it also means that there were other circumstances that bring the death penalty into play. If you have been If you are arrested on charges that could involve capital punishment, you need to contact the Madrid Law Firm.
