Intoxication Manslaughter Defense in Texas

Intoxication manslaughter is one of the most serious charges a person can face after a fatal crash in Texas. It is a felony, it carries years in prison even for someone with no criminal history, and a conviction follows you for life. If you or someone you love has been charged anywhere in Texas, you need a defense team that understands how these cases are built and how they are taken apart. Varghese Summersett defends intoxication manslaughter cases across the state, with offices in Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and Houston.

Under Texas Penal Code Section 49.08, a person commits intoxication manslaughter if, while intoxicated, they operate a motor vehicle in a public place (or operate an aircraft, watercraft, or amusement ride) and, by reason of that intoxication, cause the death of another person by accident or mistake.

The State does not have to prove you intended to hurt or kill anyone. That is the key difference between intoxication manslaughter and murder or ordinary manslaughter. The prosecutor only has to prove three things:

• You were operating a motor vehicle in a public place.
• You were intoxicated at the time.
• Your intoxication caused another person’s death.

“Intoxicated” has a specific meaning under Texas law. It means you did not have the normal use of your mental or physical faculties because of alcohol or drugs, or that your blood or breath alcohol concentration was 0.08 or higher. Drugs include illegal drugs, prescription medication, and any combination of substances.

Intoxication manslaughter is a second degree felony. The punishment range is:

• 2 to 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
• A fine of up to $10,000

That two year minimum matters. Even a first time offender with a steady job, a family, and no prior record is looking at a felony conviction and the real possibility of prison time. This is not a charge that gets quietly reduced to a traffic ticket.

When the charge becomes a first degree felony

Section 49.09 raises intoxication manslaughter to a first degree felony, punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison, in certain situations:

• The person who died was a peace officer, firefighter, judge, or emergency medical services worker who was on duty at the time.
• For offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025, more than one person was killed in the same incident. This is a recent change in Texas law, and it significantly raises the stakes in any crash involving multiple deaths.

What happens when more than one person dies

Each death can be charged as a separate count. A judge can also order the sentences to run one after another instead of at the same time, which is known as stacking. Combined with the new first degree enhancement for multiple deaths, a crash that takes more than one life can expose a defendant to decades in prison.

Whether a judge can grant probation in an intoxication manslaughter case turns on one thing: the deadly weapon finding. Under Article 42A.054 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a defendant is ineligible for judge-ordered community supervision when there is an affirmative finding that a deadly weapon was used or exhibited. Because a vehicle can be a deadly weapon, the State often seeks that finding in these cases. The finding is not automatic, however, and it is not the only path to probation:

• If a deadly weapon finding is made, a judge cannot grant probation. Only a jury can place the defendant on community supervision, and only if the defendant elected to have the jury assess punishment.
• If no deadly weapon finding is made, a judge can grant probation to an otherwise-eligible defendant. That can happen when the State agrees not to pursue the finding as part of a negotiated plea, when the court declines to enter an affirmative finding, or when the factfinder finds the deadly weapon allegation “not true.” In any of those situations, the Article 42A.054 bar does not apply.

This is exactly why the deadly weapon allegation is one of the most heavily contested issues in an intoxication manslaughter case. Whether it is alleged, negotiated away, or rejected by the factfinder can be the difference between a jury being the only route to probation and a judge being able to grant it. That decision, and the related choice of who assesses punishment, should be made with an experienced trial lawyer, not guessed at.

A separate set of rules governs parole. A person sentenced to prison for intoxication manslaughter must serve the lesser of half the sentence or 30 years, with no good conduct credit counting toward that point, before becoming eligible for parole. That restriction is tied to the deadly weapon finding under Government Code Section 508.145.

Under a Texas law that took effect September 1, 2023, often called Bentley’s Law, a court must order a person convicted of intoxication manslaughter to pay monthly restitution for the care of a child whose parent or guardian was killed. The payments continue until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later, and typically begin within a year of the defendant’s release from prison. This obligation is on top of the prison sentence and fine.

• A driver’s license suspension
• A permanent felony record that cannot be sealed or expunged after conviction
• Difficulty with employment, housing, and professional licensing
• Restrictions on firearm rights under Texas law
• Civil lawsuits brought by the victim’s family, separate from the criminal case

People often confuse intoxication manslaughter with other charges. The distinctions matter because the punishment ranges are very different:

• Intoxication assault applies when an intoxicated driver causes serious bodily injury rather than death. It is a third degree felony, punishable by 2 to 10 years.
• Manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide involve recklessness or criminal negligence and do not require proof of intoxication. In some cases, negotiating down to one of these charges can be a meaningful goal.
• Murder requires intent to kill or to cause serious bodily injury, which intoxication manslaughter does not.

A charge is not a conviction. The State carries the burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt, and there are real ways to challenge that proof. Depending on the facts, a strong defense may focus on:

• Whether you were actually intoxicated. Breath and blood testing can be unreliable. We examine how the sample was taken, whether the blood draw was lawful, how the sample was stored and tested, and whether the State can account for rising alcohol levels and testing error.
• Whether your intoxication caused the death. The State must connect the death to your intoxication, not just to the accident. If the crash would have happened anyway because of another driver, a road condition, a mechanical failure, or the conduct of the person who died, causation is in dispute.
• Whether the stop, arrest, or blood draw was lawful. Evidence obtained through an unlawful stop, arrest, or search can be suppressed under Texas law, including the Texas exclusionary rule in Article 38.23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• The science. We work with accident reconstruction and toxicology experts to test the State’s version of events rather than accept it.

Even where the evidence is strong, experienced negotiation can make the difference between a long prison sentence and a result that protects your future.

Intoxication manslaughter cases are won or lost on preparation. Our criminal defense team includes former prosecutors and board certified criminal law attorneys who have tried serious felony cases to verdict. We know how the State builds these cases because we have been on the other side of them. We move quickly to preserve evidence, retain the right experts, and protect your rights from the first phone call.

We defend intoxication manslaughter charges throughout Texas and maintain offices in Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and Houston.

If your case is in a specific county, our local pages explain the courts, the prosecutors, and what to expect where you were charged:

• Fort Worth and Tarrant County intoxication manslaughter defense
• Houston and Harris County intoxication manslaughter defense

The sooner you have a defense team working for you, the more we can do to protect you. Evidence disappears, memories fade, and the State does not wait. Contact Varghese Summersett for a confidential consultation about your intoxication manslaughter case anywhere in Texas.