Date: 06-21-2013

Case Style: State of Texas v. Manuel Nelson Flores-Carrasco

Case Number:

Judge: Bruce McFarling

Court: 362nd District Court, Denton County, Texas

Plaintiff's Attorney: Dustin Gossage and Michael Graves

Defendant's Attorney: Derek Adame

Description: The State of Texas charged Manuel Nelson Flores-Carrasco, age 25, with capital murder, threatening Gomez and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the stabbing deahto of his girlfriend, Norma Gomez, age 39, in 2012. An examination of the worman's body revealed that she was stabbed 11 times with a large knife.

Defendant claimed that he had a right to enter the house because it was his home and that there was no plan to kill Gomez.

Texas Penal Code Section 19.02 provides:

§ 19.03. CAPITAL MURDER. (a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and: (1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the person knows is a peace officer or fireman; (2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6); (3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration; (4) the person commits the murder while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution; (5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal institution, murders another: (A) who is employed in the operation of the penal institution; or (B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination; (6) the person: (A) while incarcerated for an offense under this section or Section 19.02, murders another; or (B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another; (7) the person murders more than one person: (A) during the same criminal transaction; or (B) during different criminal transactions but the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct; (8) the person murders an individual under six years of age; or (9) the person murders another person in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a justice court, or a municipal court. (b) An offense under this section is a capital felony. (c) If the jury or, when authorized by law, the judge does not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of an offense under this section, he may be convicted of murder or of any other lesser included offense.

Section 22.02 Provides:

§ 22.02. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person commits assault as defined in § 22.01 and the person: (1) causes serious bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse; or (2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault. (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if: (1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; or (2) regardless of whether the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed: (A) by a public servant acting under color of the servant's office or employment; (B) against a person the actor knows is a public servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a public servant; (C) in retaliation against or on account of the service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; or (D) against a person the actor knows is a security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer. (c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted was a public servant or a security officer if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant or status as a security officer. (d) In this section, "security officer" means a commissioned security officer as defined by Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer registered under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code.

Outcome: Defendant was found guilty.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: