The Justice Department is suing Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over a floating barrier that the state placed on the Rio Grande to stop migrants from entering the U.S.
That’s in Illinois where a lot of what would constitute as manslaughter in other states gets grouped under second degree murder instead. So it depends a lot on the state.
You said it doesn’t meet the “intent to kill” element. The Illinois first degree murder statute has an intent to kill element. He was not convicted of second degree murder which is a different charge. Also, it’s led to murder charges in other states too. Here’s one from Florida:
I didn’t say anything about intent to kill, I’m not the person you initially replied to. What I’m saying is that a murder charge in Illinois has nothing to do with Texas. Different states have different qualifications for murder vs manslaughter, so if you want to make an argument for why someone would or wouldn’t be charged with murder for booby trapping in Texas you should use an example from Texas.
Sorry I didn’t realize you weren’t OP. But, I’m not sure whyyou’re bringing up something irrelevant to the comment I was responding to. OP was talking about booby traps not meeting the “intent to kill” standard. I was providing a case where it met that standard.
Talking about the law in Texas isn’t particularly beneficial anyway because there very likely isn’t a booby trap case from Texas, these cases aren’t particularly common (and based on my cursory research I haven’t been able to find one). The Illinois case would be of use in a Texas case because it would be persuasive authority for Texas to interpret the law the same way. The equivalent to the Illinois first degree murder statue in Texas appears to be capital murder and second degree murder. Both have the intent requirement (Texas actually doesn’t have something called first degree murder). So, if Texas follows Illinois’s interpretation then one would similarly face murder charges in Texas.
This is not some hypothetical, there is precedent for booby traps being murder. It’s a common line of cases taught in law school.
https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/murder-conviction-upheld-for-man-who-rigged-shotgun-booby-trap-to-guard-his-shed
Source: am a lawyer
You’re a lawyer? Yeah right, name every law
That’s in Illinois where a lot of what would constitute as manslaughter in other states gets grouped under second degree murder instead. So it depends a lot on the state.
You said it doesn’t meet the “intent to kill” element. The Illinois first degree murder statute has an intent to kill element. He was not convicted of second degree murder which is a different charge. Also, it’s led to murder charges in other states too. Here’s one from Florida:
https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/murder-conviction-upheld-for-man-who-rigged-shotgun-booby-trap-to-guard-
I didn’t say anything about intent to kill, I’m not the person you initially replied to. What I’m saying is that a murder charge in Illinois has nothing to do with Texas. Different states have different qualifications for murder vs manslaughter, so if you want to make an argument for why someone would or wouldn’t be charged with murder for booby trapping in Texas you should use an example from Texas.
Sorry I didn’t realize you weren’t OP. But, I’m not sure whyyou’re bringing up something irrelevant to the comment I was responding to. OP was talking about booby traps not meeting the “intent to kill” standard. I was providing a case where it met that standard.
Talking about the law in Texas isn’t particularly beneficial anyway because there very likely isn’t a booby trap case from Texas, these cases aren’t particularly common (and based on my cursory research I haven’t been able to find one). The Illinois case would be of use in a Texas case because it would be persuasive authority for Texas to interpret the law the same way. The equivalent to the Illinois first degree murder statue in Texas appears to be capital murder and second degree murder. Both have the intent requirement (Texas actually doesn’t have something called first degree murder). So, if Texas follows Illinois’s interpretation then one would similarly face murder charges in Texas.