TexasCHLforum.com

I have been denied my CHL due to an adjudicated felony due to a multicar car accident. My offense is Criminally Negligent Homicide, no alcohol, no speed, first and last offense, etc. I am not a criminal. I am a person who changed lanes at the wrong time and a multicar accident ensued. The point....I took the adjudication and fulfilled all requirements with no blips. Clean before and clean since.

I accept that my denial is within the law as stated, but I wonder if the details of my case merit an appeal? How firm is the enforcement of the statute? I do not want to waste my money if I am barking up a tree.

Thanks for your input.

Marshall wrote:How firm is the enforcement of the statute? I do not want to waste my money if I am barking up a tree.

You are barking up the wrong tree.

You would be better off finding a non-resident license from a state that will not bar that by statute.

GC § 411.1711. CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS FROM CONVICTIONS. A person is not convicted, as that term is defined by Section 411.171, if an order of deferred adjudication was entered against the person on a date not less than 10 years preceding the date of the person's application for a license under this subchapter unless the order of deferred adjudication was entered against the person for:
(1) a felony offense under:
(A) Title 5, Penal Code;

TPC §19.05 Criminally Negligent Homicide is a state jail felony classified as TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON, CHAPTER 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE.

You asked this exact question in another topic an I answered it here http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... 23#p932427" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't ignore Keith's advice. Adjudication isn't what it seems:
"deferred adjudication counts as a conviction in Texas"

And apparently you can't do anything about it.... In some cases, there is an option for expungement, but your case is covered pretty clearly by this page, due to the adjudication and nature of the the "crime":
http://www.pacefirm.com/faq/expunction. ... ligibility" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FYI: I'm a criminal. I've been convicted of various Class-C traffic offenses. Pretty sure that makes most of us criminals at one time or another.

Sounds like you made an unintentional mistake and got prosecuted. Sorry if we don't have better answers.

If I undersrand correctly, you pled guilty to a felony homicide charge. Texas CHL eligibilty requirements don't allow felony homicide convictions, unless you get a pardon or have the slate wiped clean some other way.

victory wrote:If I undersrand correctly, you pled guilty to a felony homicide charge. Texas CHL eligibilty requirements don't allow felony homicide convictions, unless you get a pardon or have the slate wiped clean some other way.

Negligent homicide is always a felony.

I'm not an attorney nor do I pretend to be. Logic to me says "Criminally Negligent" would indicate something more than an "accident." I've heard about plenty of fatality accidents and have never seen anyone prosecuted for a genuine accident. Maybe I'm not paying attention. The only time I've ever seen anyone prosecuted was when they were breaking the law in some other manner, DUI, evading, reckless, etc., when the accident happened.

Not making any accusations but seems to me like there's more to this story. Again I'm not an attorney.

Larry

lfinsr wrote:I'm not an attorney nor do I pretend to be. Logic to me says "Criminally Negligent" would indicate something more than an "accident." I've heard about plenty of fatality accidents and have never seen anyone prosecuted for a genuine accident. Maybe I'm not paying attention. The only time I've ever seen anyone prosecuted was when they were breaking the law in some other manner, DUI, evading, reckless, etc., when the accident happened.

Not making any accusations but seems to me like there's more to this story. Again I'm not an attorney.

Larry

The OP says it himself. He changed lanes at the wrong time. That might mean that he was found negligent in doing so when he did and set things in motion that resulted in another person's death.

C-dub wrote:

lfinsr wrote:I'm not an attorney nor do I pretend to be. Logic to me says "Criminally Negligent" would indicate something more than an "accident." I've heard about plenty of fatality accidents and have never seen anyone prosecuted for a genuine accident. Maybe I'm not paying attention. The only time I've ever seen anyone prosecuted was when they were breaking the law in some other manner, DUI, evading, reckless, etc., when the accident happened.

Not making any accusations but seems to me like there's more to this story. Again I'm not an attorney.

Larry

The OP says it himself. He changed lanes at the wrong time. That might mean that he was found negligent in doing so when he did and set things in motion that resulted in another person's death.

Plenty of case law in Texas on this exact scenario http://www.bakers-legal-pages.com/cca/n ... -00000.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMe ... 6b25f420e5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keith B wrote:

victory wrote:If I undersrand correctly, you pled guilty to a felony homicide charge. Texas CHL eligibilty requirements don't allow felony homicide convictions, unless you get a pardon or have the slate wiped clean some other way.

Negligent homicide is always a felony.

Technical correction, Keith. While you are correct now, Criminally Negligent Homicide was a misdemeanor in the 80's and early 90's. It only became a felony sometime after the law creating state jail felonies went into effect. But I do not know how DPS would look at the case if the offense was old enough to have been a misdemeanor, even though it is a felony now.

Keith B wrote:Plenty of case law in Texas on this exact scenario http://www.bakers-legal-pages.com/cca/n ... -00000.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMe ... 6b25f420e5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's disturbing... This is off topic regarding the original post so I'll leave it at that.

lfinsr wrote:

Keith B wrote:Plenty of case law in Texas on this exact scenario http://www.bakers-legal-pages.com/cca/n ... -00000.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMe ... 6b25f420e5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's disturbing... This is off topic regarding the original post so I'll leave it at that.

No it's not off topic. The OP posted it was due to a traffic accident where he changed lanes and caused the death of someone and was charged and convicted of Criminally Negligent Homicide.

srothstein wrote:

Keith B wrote:

victory wrote:If I undersrand correctly, you pled guilty to a felony homicide charge. Texas CHL eligibilty requirements don't allow felony homicide convictions, unless you get a pardon or have the slate wiped clean some other way.

Negligent homicide is always a felony.

Technical correction, Keith. While you are correct now, Criminally Negligent Homicide was a misdemeanor in the 80's and early 90's. It only became a felony sometime after the law creating state jail felonies went into effect. But I do not know how DPS would look at the case if the offense was old enough to have been a misdemeanor, even though it is a felony now.

Thanks for the info Steve. I didn't move to Texas until 1998, so was unaware of the previous level. In Missouri it is classified as Involuntary Manslaughter and I believe it has always been at least a Class C Felony.

Keith B wrote:Plenty of case law in Texas on this exact scenario http://www.bakers-legal-pages.com/cca/n ... -00000.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for that Keith. It reinforced my opinion that a simple goof up is not criminally negligent. In one case, the person deliberately violated the law by not having safety chain on the trailer and when the trailer came loose, his criminal negligence resulted in death. In another case, the driver was talking on the phone, missed their freeway exit, and apparently swerved across solid white lines without signaling to try to make the exit, without regard for other vehicles or the life of their victim.