Murder, capital murder, and aggravated-assault accusations can put a person's freedom — and sometimes the rest of a person's life — at stake. Sam R. Cammack III is a former felony prosecutor, licensed in Texas since 2002, who has tried homicide cases to verdict and defends serious violent-crime cases across Greater Houston.
If detectives have asked you to “come in and talk,” you do not have to wait for an arrest to call a lawyer. See what to do during an investigation, review selected case results, or learn about Sam Cammack III.
*Murder/capital-murder and homicide-jury-trial figures are conservative attorney-reported career counts based on Sam Cammack III’s review of his practice history. Career matter and dismissal totals can include multiple charges or cause numbers arising from one client or incident. †Google rating and review count checked September 6, 2026; ratings and counts change over time.
Do not try to explain the case to detectives before you understand your legal position. A homicide or serious-assault investigation can involve witness statements, phones, video, firearms, forensic testing, medical evidence, and grand-jury review before a trial date ever exists. Early defense work is often about preserving evidence, identifying contradictions, and deciding what — if anything — should be presented before indictment.
Sam R. Cammack III is a former felony prosecutor who now represents people accused of serious crimes. His homicide experience includes a nationally reported murder jury acquittal in State of Texas v. David Barajas. For the attorney's background, licensing, and professional profiles, see About Sam.
Defense can turn on identity, intent, causation, self-defense, forensic evidence, witness credibility, the grand jury, and whether the State has charged the legally correct offense.
Serious assault cases often turn on who started the confrontation, whether the force was justified, whether an injury legally qualifies as serious bodily injury, and whether a weapon was actually used or exhibited.
The legal label matters. Different mental states, injuries, weapons, and surrounding facts can move a case from a misdemeanor assault to a first-degree or capital felony.
Texas murder includes intentionally or knowingly causing death, certain acts intended to cause serious bodily injury that cause death, and specified felony-murder conduct. Murder is generally a first-degree felony.
Capital murder is murder plus a statutory circumstance such as specified victims, multiple victims, murder for remuneration, or a qualifying killing committed during another listed felony.
Manslaughter is recklessly causing the death of another person. It is a second-degree felony and differs from murder principally in the required mental state.
This offense involves causing death by criminal negligence. It is a state jail felony and can arise from conduct the State alleges created a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
Aggravated assault generally requires an assault that causes serious bodily injury or involves the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon. It is usually a second-degree felony but can become first degree in specified circumstances.
An attempt charge requires specific intent to commit the underlying offense and an act amounting to more than mere preparation that tends but fails to complete it.
Deadly conduct can include recklessly placing another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or knowingly discharging a firearm at or in the direction of specified people or property.
These cases can range from state jail felony to first-degree felony depending on the alleged mental state, conduct, injury, and statutory circumstances.
Texas assault law covers bodily injury, threats, and certain offensive-contact allegations, with enhanced treatment for specified victims and circumstances. Family or dating allegations are addressed on our Family Violence Defense page.
Official statute references: Texas Penal Code Chapter 19 and Texas Penal Code Chapter 22.
A serious-felony defense should be built for the possibility of trial from the beginning — even when the case ultimately resolves before a jury is selected.
Before practicing criminal defense, Sam served as a felony prosecutor in Harrison County, Texas. That experience gives him perspective on how serious cases are screened, charged, prepared, negotiated, and tried.
Attorney-reported career counts include more than 20 murder and capital-murder matters and more than 16 homicide jury trials. These figures are maintained conservatively and are presented as career experience rather than a guarantee of any result.
Verify the lawyer, not just the marketing. Read Sam's attorney biography, review selected case results, and verify Texas licensure through the State Bar of Texas.
A documented case result is more useful than a slogan. This Brazoria County murder prosecution ended with a jury acquittal in August 2014.
David Barajas was prosecuted for murder after a driver who had struck and killed Barajas's two sons was later found shot. At trial, the defense emphasized evidentiary problems including the absence of a recovered murder weapon, the lack of an eyewitness to the shooting, and negative gunshot-residue testing on Barajas. The Brazoria County jury returned a not-guilty verdict on August 28, 2014.
Jury Verdict — Not GuiltyCoverage: NBC News, CBS News, and ABC13 Houston. Past results do not guarantee or predict a future result. View more case results →
There is no single “murder defense” or “assault defense.” The strategy depends on what the State must prove and where the evidence breaks.
Does reliable evidence actually place the accused as the person who committed the charged act? Video, phones, eyewitness identification, DNA, fingerprints, and timelines may point in different directions.
Firearms, residue, autopsy findings, medical records, DNA, digital evidence, and laboratory conclusions should be tested against the underlying methodology and chain of custody.
The question may be whether force was legally justified, including what threat existed, who initiated or escalated the confrontation, and what the accused reasonably perceived at the time.
Murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide require different culpable mental states. What the State can prove about intent, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence can change the offense itself.
Inconsistent statements, bias, motive, plea agreements, benefits, intoxication, perception, and prior contradictory accounts can materially change how a jury evaluates a witness.
Statements, searches, warrants, seizures, identification procedures, and other evidence may require litigation before trial. Suppression can reshape the case the jury ultimately sees.
The table below states general offense classifications. Enhancements, prior convictions, age, deadly-weapon findings, and case-specific allegations can change the actual punishment exposure.
| Offense | General classification | General punishment range |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Murder | Capital felony | For an adult defendant, death or life without parole can apply; age and statutory circumstances matter. |
| Murder | First-degree felony | 5–99 years or life; fine up to $10,000. |
| Murder — sudden passion proved at punishment | Punished as second-degree felony | 2–20 years; fine up to $10,000. |
| Manslaughter | Second-degree felony | 2–20 years; fine up to $10,000. |
| Criminally Negligent Homicide | State jail felony | 180 days–2 years in a state jail; fine up to $10,000. |
| Aggravated Assault | Usually second-degree felony | Generally 2–20 years; certain statutory circumstances raise it to first degree. |
| Deadly Conduct — firearm discharge form | Third-degree felony | Generally 2–10 years; fine up to $10,000. |
| Assault causing bodily injury | Generally Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year in jail and fine up to $4,000, subject to enhancements. |
General punishment ranges: Texas Penal Code Chapter 12. Murder statutes: Chapter 19. Aggravated assault: § 22.02.
A person can be arrested and prosecuted even when the defense position is that the force was justified. The legal question is not simply who was injured — it is whether the use of force met Texas justification law.
Texas law can justify force when a person reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect against another's unlawful force. Deadly force has additional statutory requirements.
Deadly force may be justified in specified circumstances, including protection against another's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force and certain listed violent crimes.
Texas law contains circumstances in which a person has no duty to retreat and circumstances that can create a presumption that the person's belief was reasonable. The exact statutory conditions matter.
See Texas Penal Code Chapter 9 for the statutory justification provisions.
A person can need a defense lawyer before an arrest, indictment, or court date. Early representation is about controlling what can still be controlled.
Under investigation but not charged? Call 713-224-4444 or request a confidential case review. If a case has already been filed, you can also use our court-record and inmate-search resources.
The law is statewide, but the courthouse, prosecutors, grand-jury process, bond practices, and local procedures depend on where the case is filed.
Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, Katy, Humble, Cypress and surrounding communities.
Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Magnolia, Willis, Porter and surrounding communities.
Richmond, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Rosenberg, Fulshear and surrounding communities.
Galveston, League City, Texas City, Friendswood, Dickinson and surrounding communities.
Angleton, Pearland, Alvin, Lake Jackson, Manvel and surrounding communities.
These questions address the issues people commonly search when facing a homicide or serious-assault investigation, from punishment and self-defense to bond, grand jury review, dismissal, and attorney fees.
Capital murder is a murder charge with one of the additional circumstances specifically listed in Texas Penal Code § 19.03. Those circumstances include certain victims and specified killings connected to offenses such as kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, and terrorist activity, as well as other situations listed in the statute. Murder under § 19.02 is generally a first-degree felony; capital murder is a capital felony with substantially different punishment exposure.
Murder is generally a first-degree felony punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison, plus a possible fine up to $10,000. Capital murder is punished under the capital-felony statute and can expose an adult defendant to life without parole or the death penalty, subject to the person's age and the circumstances of the prosecution. Prior convictions and other enhancement statutes can also affect punishment.
For an ordinary first-degree murder conviction, the statutory minimum prison term is generally five years. That does not mean every murder case has a five-year realistic outcome. Enhancements, prior felony convictions, weapon findings, plea negotiations, the facts of the offense, and whether sudden passion is proved at punishment can materially change the sentencing analysis.
Get legal advice before agreeing to an interview about the allegations. Preserve relevant evidence, do not delete messages or recordings, avoid discussing the facts with witnesses or on social media, and have counsel determine whether there is a warrant, a pending grand-jury presentation, or another immediate procedural issue. You do not have to wait until an arrest to hire a defense lawyer.
Yes, self-defense can be a complete justification when the facts satisfy Texas law. The analysis can involve the nature and immediacy of the threat, whether the accused reasonably believed force or deadly force was necessary, who initiated or escalated the confrontation, and whether statutory presumptions or no-duty-to-retreat provisions apply. The defense must be built from evidence such as video, witnesses, injuries, 911 calls, digital records, and physical evidence — not merely the label “self-defense.”
Potentially, because murder and manslaughter require different mental states. Murder generally requires intentional or knowing conduct, or another murder theory specified by § 19.02, while manslaughter requires recklessly causing death. Whether a lesser offense is legally supported depends on the evidence and the procedural posture; a defense lawyer cannot promise that a murder charge will be reduced.
Aggravated assault generally means an assault that causes serious bodily injury or involves the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon. Under Texas Penal Code § 22.02 it is ordinarily a second-degree felony, but specified circumstances can make it a first-degree felony. The exact charge can depend on the alleged injury, the object characterized as a weapon, the relationship of the parties, and other statutory facts.
Yes. Being charged does not decide whether the force was lawful. If the other person initiated or escalated the confrontation, that fact may be central to self-defense, but the State and defense may disagree about who was the aggressor, whether the threat was ongoing, and whether the amount of force used was legally justified. Video, witnesses, injuries, messages, and 911 evidence can become critical.
A grand jury decides whether there is probable cause to return an indictment for a felony offense. The process is not a criminal trial and defense counsel does not simply enter the grand-jury room and argue the case. Depending on the county, evidence, and prosecutor, defense counsel may be able to provide information or a written presentation before an indictment decision. Sam should confirm the Houston-area practice wording in this answer before publication.
Bond may be available in many murder and aggravated-assault cases, but it is not automatic in every serious-felony prosecution. The charge, prior record, alleged facts, risk findings, statutory restrictions, and constitutional rules can affect whether bond is available and what conditions or amount a court sets. Capital and other specially restricted cases require separate analysis. Sam should verify this answer against current Texas law and local practice before publication.
Yes, serious felony cases can end before trial, but dismissal is never automatic. A case may fail to produce an indictment, prosecutors may dismiss, or litigation over evidence may materially weaken the prosecution. The reasons can include identification problems, self-defense evidence, unreliable witnesses, forensic issues, suppression questions, or the State's inability to prove a required element. See our selected criminal-defense case results for examples of how individual cases have ended.
Serious-felony defense fees depend on the case. The amount of discovery, forensic evidence, experts, witnesses, motions, court settings, investigation, and likelihood of trial can make one homicide case very different from another. The firm's current practice is to review the allegation and quote the representation case by case; the initial consultation is free. Call 713-224-4444 to discuss the specific case.
If you are facing a murder, capital-murder, aggravated-assault, or other serious violent-crime investigation, early decisions can matter. Tell the office what happened and where the case is being investigated or filed.
