Mental States

Act- means a bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech

 Actor- means a person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal action = (SUSPECT)  

Another- means a person other than the actor  

Bodily injury- means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition  

Conduct- means an act or omission and its accompanying mental state.

ELEMENT OF OFFENSE means

(A)   forbidden conduct;                                           FC

(B)   required culpability;                                           RC

(C)   required result; and                                             RR

(D) negation of any exception to the offense.          NE

Felony means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary

Individual means a human being who has been born and is alive

 Law means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States , a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, an order of a county commissioners court, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute

 Misdemeanor means an offense punishable by fine, by confinement, or by both fine and confinement in jail

Public place means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access

 Public servant means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if he has not yet qualified for office or assumed his duties- an officer, employee, or agent of government a juror or grand juror; or an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy; or an attorney at law or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right although he is not legally qualified to do so.

Reasonable belief means a belief that would be held by an ordinary and prudent man in the same circumstances as the actor.

 Serious bodily injury means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

  If the issue of the existence of a defense is submitted to the jury, the court shall charge that a reasonable doubt on the issue requires that the defendant be acquitted.

 If the issue of the existence of an affirmative defense is submitted to the jury, the court shall charge that the defendant must prove the affirmative defense by a preponderance of evidence.

 Culpable mental states are classified according to relative degrees, from highest to lowest, as follows: 

( (1)          intentional

 (2)                   knowing

 (3)                                reckless

 (4)                                             criminal negligence. 

Proof of a higher degree of culpability than that charged constitutes proof of the culpability charged.

 A person acts intentionally, or with intent, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to a result of his conduct when it is his conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result. FOR EXAMPLE PLANNED MURDER OR BANK ROBBERY

 A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result. FOR EXAMPLE KNEW THAT HE WAS SHOOTING SOMEONE-UNPLANNED OR KNOWINGLY CUT SOMEONE DURING AN ASSAULT

 A person acts recklessly, or is reckless, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that its disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor's standpoint. FOR EXAMPLE SHOOTING AT ONE PERSON AND HITTING ANOTHER

 A person acts with criminal negligence, or is criminally negligent, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor's standpoint. FOR EXAMPLE CAR WRECK DURING A HIGH SPEED PURSUIT

 A person is criminally responsible if the result would not have occurred but for his conduct, operating either alone or concurrently with another cause, unless the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the result and the conduct of the actor clearly insufficient. (b) A person is nevertheless criminally responsible for causing a result if the only difference between what actually occurred and what he desired, contemplated, or risked is that:(1) a different offense was committed; or (2) a different person or property was injured, harmed, or otherwise affected.