Texas Penal Code Top Co mpulsory Exam Questions And Correct Answers Objectives of Code ✔✔✔ -To insure the public safety through: (A) the deterrent influence of the penalties hereinafter provided; (B) the rehabilit ation of those convicted of violations of this code; and to guide and limit the exercise of official discretion in law enforcement to prevent arbitrary or oppressive treatment of persons suspected, accused, or convicted of offenses; and (6) to define the s cope of state interest in law enforcement against specific offenses and to systematize the exercise of state criminal jurisdiction. Territorial Jurisdiction ✔✔✔ Either the conduct or a result that is an element of the offense occurs inside this state Compu tation of Age ✔✔✔ A person attains a specified age on the day of the anniversary of his birth -date. Act✔✔✔ A bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech. Actor✔✔✔ A person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal act ion. Whenever the term "suspect" is used in this code, it means "actor." Agency✔✔✔ Includes authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, department, district, division, and office. Bodily Injury ✔✔✔ Means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. Serious Bodily Injury ✔✔✔ Bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment o f the function of any bodily member or organ. Coercion✔✔✔ Means a threat, however communicated: (A) to commit an offense; (B) to inflict bodily injury in the future on the person threatened or another; (C) to accuse a person of any offense; (D) to expose a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule; (E) to harm the credit or business repute of any person; or (F) to take or withhold action as a public servant, or to cause a public servant to take or withhold action. Conduct✔✔✔ Means an act or omission and its a ccompanying mental state. Correctional Facility ✔✔✔ Means a place designated by law for the confinement of a person arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offense. The term includes: (A) a municipal or county jail; (B) a confinement facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; (C) a confinement facility operated under contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and (D) a community corrections facility operated by a community supervision and correc tions department. Deadly Weapon ✔✔✔ A firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or (B) anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or seriou s bodily injury. Consent✔✔✔ Means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. Effective Consent ✔✔✔ Includes consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. Consent is not effective if: (A) induced by force, threat, or fraud; (B) given by a person the actor knows is not legally authorized to act for the owner; (C) given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or intoxication is known by the actor to be unable to make reasonable decisions; or (D) given sole ly to detect the commission of an offense. Element of Offense ✔✔✔ (A) The forbidden conduct; (B) The required culpability; (C) Any required result; and (D) The negation of any exception to the offense. Felony✔✔✔ An offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. Harm✔✔✔ Anything reasonably regarded as loss, disadvantage, or injury, including harm to another person in whose welfare the person affected is interested. Individual ✔✔✔ A human being who is alive, including an u nborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth. Misdemeanor ✔✔✔ An offense so designated by law or punishable by fine, by confinement in jail, or by both fine and confinement in jail. Possession ✔✔✔ Means actual care, custody, control , or management. Public Place ✔✔✔ Any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops. Public Servant ✔✔✔ A person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if he has not yet qualified for office or assumed his duties: (A) an officer, employee, or agent of government; (B) a juror or grand juror; or (C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy; or (D) an attorney at law or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or (E) a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or (F) a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right although he is not legally qualified to do so. Reasonable Belief ✔✔✔ A belief that would be held by an ordinary and prudent man in the same circumstances as the actor. Secure Correctional Facility ✔✔✔ A municipal or county jail; or (B) a confinement facility operated by or under a contract with any divis ion of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Unlawful ✔✔✔ Criminal or tortuous or both and includes what would be criminal or tortuous but for a defense not amounting to justification or privilege. Death✔✔✔ For an individual who is an unborn child, the failure to be born alive. Prosecuting Attorney ✔✔✔ Prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant or defendant's conduct does not fall within the exception. Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt ✔✔✔ All persons are presumed to be innocent and no person may be convicted of an offense unless each element of the offense is proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Presumption ✔✔✔ If there is sufficient evidence of the facts that give rise to the presumption, the issue of the existence of the presumed fact must be submitted to the jury Defense✔✔✔ -"It is a defense to prosecution..."
