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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
MAY 4, 2017
Capital Murder in Texas
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Murdering a peace officer or firefighter, who is acting in the lawful discharge of an
official duty and who the person knows is a police officer or firefighter;
Intentionally committing a murder in the course of committing or attempting to
commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, or arson;
Committing a murder for pay or promise to pay or employing another person to
commit murder;
Committing a murder while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal
institution;
Murdering a prison employee while incarcerated;
Committing a gang-related murder while incarcerated;
Committing a murder to obstruct justice or in retaliation against a witness in a
criminal case;
Committing serial or mass murder; and
Murdering a child under the age of six.
Is This Capital Murder?
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Lupe is upset because he was fired. He returns to
No.
work with a gun and kills his supervisor.
Frankie loves fires. He set an old warehouse on fire
Yes
and a firefighter is killed fighting the blaze.
Jordan and his friend Buzz decide to rob a
convenience store, but the clerk pulls a gun and
starts shooting, accidentally killing a customer.
Yes
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When Lucille sees her husband coming out of a
store with his mistress, she runs him over with her car
and circles the parking lot to run over him a couple
No
of more times.
Randy flees when police try to arrest him. During
the chase, Randy’s truck collides with another vehicle
and a passenger in that vehicle is killed.
Yes
Sentences for Capital Murder
The punishment for
capital murder is either
life imprisonment without
possibility of parole or
the death penalty.
Questions for the Jury
Was the conduct of the defendant that caused the death of
the victim committed deliberately and with the reasonable
expectation that the victim's death would ensue?
 Is it probable that the defendant would commit additional
criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing
threat to society?
 Is there anything in the circumstances of the offense and the
defendant's character and background that would warrant a
sentence of life imprisonment rather than a death sentence?
The sentence is death if the jury or judge answers yes, yes, and
no.
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Otherwise, the sentence
is life without parole.
World Capital Punishment Map
Most other democracies have abolished capital punishment.
Capital Punishment USA
Executions by State
Which state
leads?
Texas, by a
big margin.
The
South
In which region is the death penalty
used more frequently?
Death Penalty by Region
Executions by County
Who is # 1?
Harris
County
Many district attorneys never or seldom seek the death penalty
because it is much more expensive than other cases.
How do you interpret these data?
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Supreme Court has
prohibited the use of the
death penalty against
the following:
 Severely retarded
 Criminals other than
murderers
 Juveniles
Declining Executions
Possible Explanations
Criminologists offer
explanations:
 DNA exonerations
make juries cautious
 In Texas, life without
parole is suitable
option for many jurors
Lethal Injection Drug Shortage
Executions in several
states have been
blocked or delayed
because of a shortage
of the drugs used in
lethal injection.
Arkansas hurriedly carried out four executions last
month because the expiration date of one of its
lethal injection drugs was about to expire.
Texas Death Row
Texas death row houses
252 inmates awaiting
execution, down more
than 40 percent in the
last ten years. More
than 70 percent are
members of racial and
ethnic minority groups.
What You Have Learned
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What murders are
considered capital murder
in Texas?
How does Texas compare
with other states in terms of
executions carried out?
What is the trend in
carrying out executions?
How do criminologists
explain changes in the
execution rate?