200+ Free TX Criminal Law Specialist Practice Questions

You must hold an active Texas law license, have at least 5 years in the practice of law, devote at least 25% of your practice to criminal law in Texas during the 3 years preceding application, meet the lead-counsel case requirements (a required number and combination of felony, misdemeanor, federal, and appellate matters), complete at least 60 hours of TBLS-approved criminal law CLE, provide at least 5 references (4 from attorneys you tried a case with or against and 1 Texas judge you appeared before), and pass the TBLS Criminal Law examination. Certification lasts 5 years and must be renewed.

The exam is a full day. The morning is a three-hour session of three essay questions, and the afternoon is a three-hour session of approximately 100 multiple-choice questions. The passing standard is a 350 scaled score. The exam tests the Texas Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, constitutional criminal procedure, the Texas Rules of Evidence, trial and punishment, and appeals and post-conviction practice.

Texas Penal Code Section 6.03 defines four culpable mental states. A person acts intentionally when it is his conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result. He acts knowingly when he is aware his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result. He acts recklessly when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk. He acts with criminal negligence when he ought to be aware of, but fails to perceive, a substantial and unjustifiable risk, where the failure is a gross deviation from the ordinary standard of care.

Before a custodial statement is admissible, the accused must be warned that he has the right to remain silent and that any statement may be used against him, the right to a lawyer present before and during questioning, the right to appointed counsel if he cannot afford one, and the right to terminate the interview at any time. The right to terminate the interview is a distinctly Texas warning not required by federal Miranda. A written statement must show these warnings and a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver on its face, and an oral custodial statement generally must be electronically recorded.

The Michael Morton Act, codified at Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 39.14, broadened criminal discovery after Michael Morton's wrongful conviction. After a timely defense request, the State must produce and permit inspection of documents, written statements, objects, and other tangible things material to any matter in the case that are in the State's possession. Separately, Article 39.14(h) imposes an affirmative, request-independent duty to disclose exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating evidence as soon as practicable, codifying a Brady-type obligation.

Article 38.23(a) provides that no evidence obtained by an officer in violation of the U.S. or Texas Constitution or laws may be admitted against the accused, reaching both constitutional and statutory violations. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has declined to adopt the broad federal Leon good-faith exception. The only statutory good-faith exception, in 38.23(b), is narrow: it applies when an officer acts in objective good-faith reliance on a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate based on probable cause.