Texas Criminal Jury Charges

Description

650 Accepted Jury Charges for Texas Criminal Cases

Spot more issues advance more persuasive arguments, and reduce your research and drafting time with these widely-adopted criminal jury charges.

The indispensable book of jury charges relied on by judges and attorneys throughout the state.

Now more than 40 years old, and recently revised and updated by new authors Judge Elizabeth Berry and Judge George Gallagher, Texas Criminal Jury Charges provides the most comprehensive and authoritative set of criminal jury charges available in Texas.

650 pre-drafted instructions, detailed legal discussions with 1,100 supporting citations, and dozens of practice tips are contained in this essential and affordable resource. Use it to:

• Plan winning pretrial strategies
• Spot and set-up issues
• Identify evidence requirements
• Negotiate favorable plea bargains
• Win important instructional battles
• Deliver better results for your clients

Whether you consult it (1) at the outset of a case to determine substantive law and identify issues, (2) during a case to formulate pretrial strategy and negotiate a plea, or (3) before trial to argue or prepare instructions, Texas Criminal Jury Charges is indispensable.

The book’s jury charges cover the full range of crimes, from manslaughter to capital murder, from assault to aggravated sexual assault, from criminal mischief to aggravated robbery, from handling waste without permits to unauthorized discharge of pollutant, and hundreds more.

Heavily Annotated

Texas Criminal Jury Charges is more than a book of jury charges. It delves deeply into the substantive law, devoting nearly as many pages to interpretive and supporting law as to instructions.

Before each set of charges you will find an analysis of the underlying law, complete with exceptions, caveats, and practice tips.  This detailed exposition of the law includes quotations from the governing statutes, citation-heavy summaries of common law, critical discussions of wayward decisions, and definitions.

Then, after each set of charges, come supportive decisions, interpretive or opposing cases, tactical suggestions, and use notes.

The Accepted Authority

Since it was first published in 1964, Texas Criminal Jury Charges has been the primary source of criminal instructions in Texas. Judges and attorneys throughout the state rely on its jury forms and law, and regularly compliment the book:

• “The most comprehensive jury charges.”
• “I use it all the time.”
• “Excellent.”
• “I’ve used it since 1965.”
• “It’s the only one of its kind.”

REVISION 25 HIGHLIGHTS

This 25th revision of Texas Criminal Jury Charges continues the more than two-decade legacy of the title as the leading source of criminal jury charges in the state, relied upon by both judges and attorneys. New and updated sections include:

CHAPTER 6 – OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON

• §6:1770 Indecent Assault (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (Penal Code §22.012; Class A
  Misdemeanor)
• §6:1771 Indecent Assault — Prior Conviction (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (State Jail Felony)
• §6:1772 Indecent Assault — Health Care or Mental Health Services Provider (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW
  CHARGE (State Jail Felony)
• §6:1773 Indecent Assault — Health Care or Mental Health Services Provider with Prior Conviction (On or After
  9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (Third Degree Felony)
• §6:1774 Indecent Assault — Disabled Individual or Elderly Individual (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE
  (Second Degree Felony)

CHAPTER 8 – OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY

• §8:495 Aggravated Robbery — Updated with new CCA jury unanimity ruling: Aggravated Robbery under
  §29.02(a)(1) and §29.02(a)(2) are the same offense; State may allege both means in the disjunctive (Floyd v.
  State, 714 S.W.3d 9 (Tex.Crim.App. 2024))
• §8:1340 Organized Retail Theft (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (Penal Code §31.16; Class B
  Misdemeanor through First-Degree Felony based on value)
• §8:1370 Mail Theft (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (Penal Code §31.20; multiple penalty tiers
  based on number of addressees or negotiable instruments; enhanced for elderly/disabled victims)

CHAPTER 9 – OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

• §9:160 Retaliation — Updated practice notes with new authority on the retributory element requirement
  and 1997 legislative expansion of the offense

CHAPTER 10 – OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY

• §10:419 Continuous Promotion of Prostitution (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (Penal Code §43.032;
  First-Degree Felony). Covers conduct where a person engages two or more times within a 30-or-more-day
  period in promotion of prostitution; includes unanimity instruction
• §10:560 Possession, Promotion, or Production of Certain Visual Material Appearing to Depict Child (P.C.
  §43.235) (On or After 9/1/25) — UPDATED CHARGE. Expanded to include new manner and means: using
  an image of an actual child to train an AI model to produce child pornography
•  §10:565 Possession, Promotion, or Production of Certain Visual Material Appearing to Depict Child — AI
  Training (P.C. §43.235(b)(2)) (On or After 9/1/25) — NEW CHARGE (State Jail Felony; enhanced for prior
  convictions). Covers using an image of an actual child under 18 with intent to train an AI model to produce child
  pornography

AND MORE!

ABBREVIATED TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO JURY INSTRUCTION LAW
CHAPTER 2 CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY — PARTIES TO CRIME
CHAPTER 3 DEFENSES AND SPECIAL EVIDENTIARY CHARGES
CHAPTER 4 PUNISHMENT
CHAPTER 5 CRIMINAL INSTRUMENTS
CHAPTER 6 OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON
CHAPTER 7 OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY
CHAPTER 8 OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY
CHAPTER 9 OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER 10 OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
CHAPTER 11 OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALS
CHAPTER 12 ORGANIZED CRIME
CHAPTER 13 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES OFFENSES
CHAPTER 14 WATER CODE CRIMES
CHAPTER 15 TAX CRIMES
CHAPTER 16 HUMAN RESOURCES FRAUD
CHAPTER 17 REAL PROPERTY OFFENSES
CHAPTER 18 ELECTION CODE
CHAPTER 19 SECURITIES FRAUD
CHAPTER 20 MISCELLANEOUS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Elizabeth Berry served two terms as the elected Judge of Criminal District Court Number Three from January 1, 2003-December 31, 2010. She presided over a court handling felony criminal cases. Prior to that, she had more than eight years’ experience as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Tarrant County, as well as over three years in private practice as a criminal defense attorney. After working as a visiting judge for over four years, she is currently practicing as a criminal defense attorney in Fort Worth, Texas.

Judge Berry graduated from the University of Texas, and attended law school at the University of Houston. She has served as a faculty advisor and speaker at trial skills courses around the state. Judge Berry has been Board Certified in Criminal Law since 1999.

Judge George Gallagher has been the presiding judge of the 396th District Court since January 1, 2000. A graduate of Texas A&M University and St. Mary’s LAW School, upon graduation Judge Gallagher served as an Assistant District Attorney in Tarrant County for four years. He was a partner in the Fort Worth criminal defense firm of Zachry, Hill, Beatty, Butcher & Gallagher for fourteen years.

Judge Gallagher has been Board Certified in Criminal LAW since 1987. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Tarrant County Bar Association, Master of the Eldon B. Mahon Inns of Court, former President of the Tarrant County Criminal Defense LAWyers Association, and was the Presiding Judge of the Criminal District Courts and the Statutory County Courts Trying Criminal Cases in Tarrant County in 2005.