Key Differences Between Texas and Federal Criminal Cases

Numerous differences exist between Texas and Federal Criminal Cases.  Federal crimes are listed in various sections of the United States Code while Texas crimes are listed in the Texas Penal Code.  Similarly, each system has its own Rules of Criminal Procedure and Rules of Evidence. 

The judges, courts, staff and incarceration facilities also differ.  Attorneys must be separately licensed to practice in Federal Court -- typically for each individual district.  A single state, such as Texas, may include several federal districts.

 However, these are not the most significant differences affecting those accused of Federal Crimes versus those accused of state crimes in Texas.  The biggest differences are punishments, parole, and pretrial release. 

COMPARING SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT

Texas law allows for wide sentencing ranges.  For instance, a first-degree felony in Texas is punishable from anywhere from probation or deferred adjudication to 5-99 years in prison.  Federal sentencing, on the other hand, follows the Federal Sentencing Guidelines which only consider factors listed in the U.S. Code.

Federal Judges use a chart is used to determine the minimum and maximum punishment range based on the offense and other “relevant conduct.”  The range for the minimum and maximum punishment under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines is typically between three months and three years once “relevant conduct” is determined. See Sentencing Table.  

ROLE OF RELEVANT CONDUCT IN FEDERAL SENTENCING

Relevant conduct in a federal case is conduct that tends to increase or decrease a sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.  The U.S. code provides checklists of factors that enhance penalties under the sentencing guidelines and a checklist for conduct considered relevant. 

By contrast, Texas courts have much broader discretion. Judges or juries may consider any “bad acts,” they deem significant—there is no formal checklist.  As a result, understanding the tendencies of the judge is more important in Texas cases than in Federal ones.  However, parole eligibility is one of the few things that may not be considered in determining a sentence in Texas.

PAROLE

Parole is widely available in Texas, but does not exist in federal system.  Instead, federal cases have supervised release which functions similarly, but doesn’t begin until most of the sentence is served.  In federal cases, defendants typically serve 80% of their sentence before becoming eligible for supervised release.  In Texas, parole eligibility depends on whether or not the offense is aggravated or non-aggravated.

For aggravated cases, inmates must serve 50% of their sentence before they become eligible for parole.  On non- aggravated cases inmates are typically eligible for parole when they serve 1/8th of their sentence.  See Tex. Gov. Code 548.145.

Many offenses in Texas have aggravated and non-aggravated versions so characterizing the case as non-aggravated whenever possible is critical.  Another important distinction is between state and federal cases is pretrial release. 

PRETRAIL RELEASE VS. BOND

In federal cases, there is typically no bond and defendants cannot use a bail bondsman to get out of jail. Instead, release before trial, if at all, is done by following the conditions set out in a court order.  These conditions are enforced and monitored by the U.S. Probation Department, even though the defendant at this point is not convicted of any crime.  This is known as supervised release. 

Conditions of release in federal cases are similar to the conditions of probation or deferred adjudication under Texas law.  Normally there is no downside to aggressively advocating for pretrial release in a federal case.  However, a defendant’s failure to comply with conditions of release could lead to a harsher sentence later on.   Conversely, a defendant who complies with conditions of release shows the potential for rehabilitation.

Most Texas cases have a bond without any conditions of release.  However, conditions of release are becoming more common under Texas law, particularly with DWIs.  Unlike federal court conditions of release in Texas are often in addition to instead of in lieu of posting bond.  See Tex. Code Crim. Pro. 17.15.

—Sam Mehaffey, Partner