[NELSON111]

Nope. Texas doesn’t have first and second degree murder. Texas only has the following charges in the Texas Penal Code: 19.02. Murder; 19.03. Capital Murder; 19.04. Manslaughter; 19.05. Criminally Negligent Homicides. There are no breakdowns in 19.02 that subdivide it into first or second. How first and second degree is differentiated in Texas is during the punishment stage of the trial, but not during the charging or initial trial.

IOW-you will get charged with murder in Texas if you walk in, find your wife sleeping with another man and you kill them both. In most states that’s second degree murder. Not in Texas. That’s just murder. However, In Texas, “passion” can be argued as a defense at the punishment phase.

So, what happens in Texas is you get a murder charge and a sentence that looks like a CNH or manslaughter conviction due to circumstances.

[DrewsMum]

I was referring to the difference in capital murder and murder being akin to 1st and 2nd degree...
However I do see what you mean by the sentencing phase being where the hairs are split.