Houston, Galveston and Clear Lake Criminal Defense Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Texas Fraud:

Fraud involves the intentional misrepresentation of facts to another person in order to obtain money or some other valuable thing to which one is not entitled. It is a form of theft.

Texas Theft:

Theft is taking property that belongs to someone else with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of it. It is the legal term describing what is commonly called stealing.

Texas Robbery:

Robbery is a form of stealing that is accomplished by force, or by the threat of force.

Aggravated Robbery involves the use of a deadly weapon and/or serious physical injury, or threatening or placing a person in fear of imminent bodily injury or death. It is a much more serious crime than mere "robbery."

Texas Burglary:

Burglary involves the entry of a home or other building with the intent to commit some kind of criminal offense inside.

Texas Child Abuse:

Under Texas law, Child Abuse is any act or omission that endangers or impairs a child's physical, mental or emotional health and development. It may take the form of physical or emotional injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, physical neglect, medical neglect, or inadequate supervision.

Rape:

Rape involves sexual relations imposed on another without consent. The lack of consent is obvious in "forcible rape" situations, where one person physically overpowers the other and compels submission to sex. Once the sexual act has been established in a trial, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to prove the act was consensual. In situations involving sexual relations with an unconscious person (the classic "date rape") the physical inability of the victim to object will not be interpreted as consent.

Statutory Rape involves sexual relations, with or without the consent of the victim, if the victim is under the age of consent established by the legislature. The age limitations vary widely from one state to another, and the interpretation can be extremely confusing. In Texas, for example, the age of consent in Texas is 17, except in situations where the victim is at least 14 and no more than three years younger than the defendant.

Assault:

Under Texas law, Assault involves causing bodily injury to another, threatening another with imminent bodily injury, or causing physical contact with another that is likely to be regarded as offensive or provocative.

Texas Criminal Homicide:

Under Texas law, Criminal Homicide is defined as intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence causing the death of another.

Criminally Negligent Homicide is the least serious of these serious crimes. It does not involve the intent to kill someone, but seriously negligent conduct resulting in a death. Manslaughter is another, but more serious form of criminal homicide that does not involve the intent to kill someone. It involves not mere negligence, but reckless conduct resulting in a death. Murder involves the intentional killing of another or a death that occurs as the result of an attempt to cause serious injury or in the commission of any felony.

Capital Murder is a murder committed under any one of a number of circumstances expressly set forth in the Texas Penal Code.

If you or someone you know in Houston, Galveston, Clear Lake or within the surrounding cities and counties of Texas, needs the assistance or trusted legal advice of an experienced and Certified Criminal Defense Law Specialist, please contact Tad A. Nelson & Associates today at 866-631-9219, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free initial consultation.