Tyra v. State

The offense is involuntary manslaughter by accident or mistake when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. V.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 19.05(a)(2). The core question of law is whether an affirmative finding that the motor vehicle was used as a deadly weapon is appropriate in such an involuntary manslaughter setting.

I

A

The essential facts of the offense determined by the court of appeals are that around midnight January 24, 1992, appellant drove his motor vehicle (a pickup truck) at a high rate of speed, estimated at eighty miles per hour, toward a signal-controlled intersection, “jumping” a…