Terms Used In Texas Penal Code Chapter 8 - General Defenses to Criminal Responsibility

• Act: means a bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Actor: means a person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal action. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Agency: includes authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, department, district, division, and office. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Bodily injury: means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying mental state. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Controlled substance: has the meaning assigned by § 481. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Court: means and includes:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
  (3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Death: includes , for an individual who is an unborn child, the failure to be born alive. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Felony: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Individual: means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• 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. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Misdemeanor: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by fine, by confinement in jail, or by both fine and confinement in jail. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Reasonable belief: means a belief that would be held by an ordinary and prudent man in the same circumstances as the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Signature: includes the mark of a person unable to write, and "subscribe" includes the making of such a mark. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.