All felonies are serious. Even “minor” felonies such as state jail felonies can completely disrupt your life with prison time, big fines, and a criminal record that will never go away and can cause you all kinds of trouble in getting housing, employment, even student loans. But all of that is small change compared to capital felonies. No one charged with a capital felony ever wonders if they should hire a lawyer. If they have the means, they do it. Public defenders no doubt are fine people and talented lawyers, but you want an attorney you know and trust. The stakes are far too high. After all, the state can put you to death if you are convicted of a capital felony, and no state is more likely to carry out that sentence than Texas.
Capital Felonies are a Life-and-Death Matter
A number of states impose the death penalty – at least as a possible sentence – for crimes other than murder, such as treason or rape of a child. Texas is not one of those states. If you do not kill someone, you will not get the death penalty in Texas. On the other hand, the intentional killing of a person – murder – can carry the death penalty under a number of aggravating circumstances. Texas has a lot of those, described as “murder with special circumstances,” such as killing someone during the commission of another felony, killing a public official, killing a child, killing an elderly person, killing a police officer or firefighter, and other circumstances in the capital felony statute. Among the other aggravating circumstances that raise a crime to a capital felony are:
- Committing a killing for hire
- Killing a prison employee while incarcerated
- While incarcerated, killing someone in furtherance of a criminal combination
- Killing someone while incarcerated under a sentence of 99 years or life imprisonment
- Killing more than one person during the same criminal act
Even if you do not receive the death sentence when convicted of a capital felony, you will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Potential jurors are informed of these possible outcomes before they are selected for a jury. If they cannot sentence someone to death or to life in prison without parole, they will not be on the jury. You can rest assured that if you are convicted of a capital felony, even if you are not executed you will never see freedom again.
If You Have Been Charged With a Capital Felony, You Need Madrid Law Firm
If you have been charged with a capital felony, your life is literally on the line. No legal situation could possibly be more dire. This is not about a felony conviction where you might lose the right to vote, to own a gun, or face other serious consequences if convicted. If you are facing capital felony charges, the state can put you to death if you are convicted. The best-case scenario upon such a conviction is life in prison without parole. You need an attorney who knows how to deal with such cases. If you are charged with a capital felony in the Houston area, talk to the Madrid Law Firm to see
