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Parties, inchoate offenses and punishment ranges
Summary of the topic
Three chapters of the Penal Code decide who else is guilty, what is punishable before the harm is done, and how heavy the punishment is.
Chapter 7 makes a person criminally responsible for the conduct of another. Section 7.01 abolishes the old distinction between principals and accomplices, so a party can be charged and convicted without alleging which one they were. Section 7.02(a) gives three routes to responsibility: causing an innocent or nonresponsible person to engage in the conduct, soliciting, encouraging, directing or aiding another with intent to promote or assist the offense, and failing to make a reasonable effort to prevent an offense that the person had a legal duty to prevent. Section 7.02(b) extends responsibility to a second felony committed by a fellow conspirator in furtherance of the unlawful purpose, if it should have been anticipated.
Chapter 15 creates the preparatory offenses. Criminal attempt under section 15.01 needs specific intent and an act amounting to more than mere preparation. Criminal conspiracy under section 15.02 needs an agreement to commit a felony and an overt act. Criminal solicitation under section 15.03 covers requesting or inducing another to commit a capital felony or a first degree felony. An attempt or conspiracy is graded one category below the object offense, and renunciation under section 15.04 is an affirmative defense.
Chapter 12 is the punishment ladder. Section 12.03 sets out Class A, B and C misdemeanors, and section 12.04 sets out the capital, first, second and third degree felonies and the state jail felony. The punishment sections run from a fine up to $500 for a Class C misdemeanor, through jail up to one year for a Class A misdemeanor, to two to ten years for a third degree felony, two to twenty years for a second degree felony, and five to 99 years or life for a first degree felony.
Enhancement rules in sections 12.35, 12.42 and 12.425 move an offense up the ladder for a deadly weapon or for previous convictions, while section 12.43 raises the jail minimum for a repeat misdemeanant without changing the class. Learn the ladder first with its fines and terms, then the one-category-lower rule for attempts and conspiracies, and then the party rules.
Provisions this topic covers
- Tex. Penal Code ch. 7
- Tex. Penal Code ch. 15
- Tex. Penal Code ch. 12
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