Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

P401
,%-HE Aaao
September 25, 1947
Bon. Fred V. Meredith, Opinion Ho, v-389
County ittiormy,
Kauf5an-county, m: Applicability of 8. I?.
KauWan, Tamas 120, SOth Leg,, to the
crlu of lPUrae,r without
i%Rlioe.
Dear Mr. mreaith:
Your i%quest for an opinion upon the above
eubjeot metter is in pert es follows:
* whether H.B. 120, 50th Leg-
Islet& 9“the Adult ,Probatioo Law woula
be construed to inolude dr to erciuae the
oliense of Piluraer uithout Malice, or in
,other worbe whether the Court would have
the power under the new act to probate the
eentenoe of one oonrfctea, 03 Muraer uith-
out IIalloe. Spscirlcally, n, hare a
oouple of cam9 of the sort graving out of
automobile collisions, death as a result,
the defendant boiug an intoxicated driver
,at time of the collision,a
That part of 3etction1, or Et.3.120, of the
SCth Legislature pertinent to your inquiry is as follore:
We courts of th8 State of Texas
having origlaal juri8alation or orlnainal
actions, when it shall eppear to the satie-
faction of the court that the ends of jus-
tice and the beet interest8 of the publio
an well as the deiendMt will be subsexvad
thereby ehall heve the power, rtter oomic-
tion or a pl8a of guilty for any orime or
offense exOept.muraer, rape, end orrenses
against morals, deoenc and chestits, a .,
to suspend the imposit Pon or the exektlon
Article 1256 or the Pen01 Cods defines the
offtanae 0r aurbr as iollown: .
.
Hon. Fred V. Meredith - Page 2 (V-389)
“Whoever shall voluntarily kill any
person within this State shall be guilty
or muraer.N
In the oese of Woseley v. State, 196 8.91.
(ad) 828, it ,is nald:
~Now.every unlawful killing-that is, in-
tended killing-is murder, with punlebment auth-.
ofized to be rlxed, therefor,from two yeara’ oon-
finenent in the penitentiary to aeath, at the
aiscretion of the jury. There are now no de-
grees of the Orif&@ of murder. ~Indeed, one oon-
vioted of murder whioh the jury found was oom-
mitted without melioe MY, upon’s re-trial., be
convicted of, iqurder with ‘tilloe and a puhiehment
iixed lo o o r dingJoubert
ly. v. State, 136 Tex.
Cr, B. 219, 124 ~2.W. 2d 36&. Under our present
mrder statute, the que~stion of murder with end
without malice relates only to the punishment
authorized to be 1nflioted.v
Your question, thererore, ie answered to the.
effect that a murder without malioe la, nevertheless emur-
derv within the meaning of H. B. 100. 120, and as euoh 4s
hot within the provisions,, for probation.
Murder without malice is within the exoep-
tlona to H.B. Wo, 120 of the 50th Legislature
and thus exoluaed ?rOB the probation Dxovialona
therein contained. Moseley-v, State,-196 S.W.
26 822.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEY
GEIUBRAL
OF,TEEAS
,‘By a4+z+ “~‘,
ATTORNEY
GBBERAL
Ooie Speer
0S:mw:wb Asai &ant