I am not sure it was manslaughter, but it is debatable. It was at least criminally negligent homicide. The difference between the two is the culpable mental state. Manslaughter requires recklessness, which means he knew of a risk and disregarded it. Negligence means he should have known of the risk and disregarded it. They are both felonies, but negligent homicide is at the state jail level while manslaughter is a second degree.philip964 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 4:44 pmI would agree it was not murder, but manslaughter. A real shame he was overcharged.baseballguy2001 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 11:30 am "a Texas Ranger and a police trainee who were on the scene told defense lawyers it was possible that he did not hear Heidelberg’s announcement" - So, the policemen announced who he was while outside the house. He then he went inside, alarm blaring, (no announcement) armed, and dressed in dark clothes and the home owner took him for an intruder. The jury made the correct decision. Also, keep in mind the prosecutor upgraded the charges from second-degree manslaughter to murder.
A terrible tragedy that we lost a good guy.
It is a shame we changed murder to include what used to be voluntary manslaughter and did away with the involuntary manslaughter charge. I don't remember the exact specifics, but involuntary manslaughter might have been a better fit.
Did the judge allow the jury to consider lesser included offenses? Did the instructions go over these differences? If he did, there may be more to the story than the media is giving us because most Texas juries would have convicted of the criminally negligent offense at the least, I think.