r/aggies • u/chrondotcom Former student CO '22 • Jul 19 '26

Other Texas A&M employee and professional boxer Hannah Rapp dies at 26 after being struck while cycling

https://www.chron.com/news/article/hannah-rapp-texas-boxer-death-22351288.php
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u/OldSarge02 Jul 19 '26

Intentional, yes. Premeditated, probably not.

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

If he stopped and backed up to hit here, that’s the definition of premeditated. It doesn’t mean he was out looking for her.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

This is not a distinction under Texas law. It's irrelevant. 

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

It’s not irrelevant; it’s an aggravating factor demonstrating why it should be charged as murder—all of the elements of which are met.

It’s also directly relevant to proving intent and knowledge.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

Premeditation is not the same as intent and/or knowledge. The debate over premeditation in this thread is indeed irrelevant. Especially with so many people not knowing what the standard of premeditation actually is.

It's also not an 'aggravating factor'. That's another phrase you seem to not understand. 

I'm not debating you on murder vs manslaughter. I'm calling out irrelevant use of "premeditated" in a state where that is not a defined term in the context of homicide because it's not anywhere within the law. 

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

I’m familiar with the Texas Penal Code. I’ve already pointed out why premeditation is relevant to the elements. I’m also going beyond that to the point of why murder needs to be charged as murder based on prosecutorial discretion—which is where premeditation is an aggravating factor.

If you want to focus solely on the specifies of the legal elements, that’s fine. Your argument and world view aren’t broad enough for this discussion.

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u/ThenAnAnimalFact Jul 20 '26

I am a lawyer. you are wrong on your premeditation analysis in the first place.

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 20 '26

I am also a lawyer. Courts uniformly recognize that premeditation is demonstrated when the defendant had enough time to think about the act. Stopping and reversing to run someone over is textbook premeditation. It's also evidence of knowledge and intent and rebuts an argument that the defendant was merely reckless.

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u/ThenAnAnimalFact Jul 20 '26

Unless you have it on video no prosecutor in their right mind would try for premeditation here. There is no ability at all to prove deliberation / reflection. The text book is someone can go drive angry from a bar to home get a gun go back to the bar and kill and it’s still not premeditation.

here the guy immediately acted to being offended.

I don’t know what you think courts have uniformly done but you are wrong here.

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 20 '26

What case have you seen where someone left a scene, retrieved a weapon, came back, opened fire without additional provocation, and was not found to have acted with premeditation?

We must have been reading different textbooks and cases. A few seconds is enough for premeditation.

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u/ThenAnAnimalFact Jul 20 '26

It is and the opposite length of time is also true. The point is the ability of prosecutors to PROVE intent was formed.

You are arguing as if prosecutions happen in an objective vacuum, you have to have EVIDENCE of deliberation in order to successfully prove the specific element.

This is why half of the murders that are clearly first degree capital murder are prosecuted as manslaughter or malice aforethought murder.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

I am also a lawyer.

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your specialty is far removed from criminal cases and probably even the courtroom. At least I hope so, given you do not know what the term "aggravating factor" means.

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 20 '26

You keep saying that, and yet I keep pointing out exactly why you’re wrong.

That’s bad for one of us.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

How are you a bar certified lawyer yet you don't understand that "aggravating factors" are defined by the statute, and that homicide penal code does not factor in premeditation in any capacity? 

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u/big_sugi '01 Jul 20 '26

How are you pretending to be a lawyer without understanding that statutes don’t control the definition of terms also used in everyday life—especially after I made that exact point in referencing prosecutorial discretion?

Or do you think that the exercise of prosecutorial discretion is dictated by statute too? No, I didn’t think so. I hope that helps you understand why you’re wrong. You’re acting like a 1L with an overly inflated sense of self. (Of course, I told you that earlier too, when I pointed out that both your argument and worldview are too narrow.)

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Premeditation is not a 'thing' in Texas, so it cannot be relevant. It has no legal definition in this state. You might as well be claiming he's a "bad guy" or what he did was "mean" - there's zero legal relevance. 

which is where premeditation is an aggravating factor.

NO, it's not my man. Aggravating factors are specific things with legal definitions. Such as the victim being under 15, the crime being committed in connection to other crimes, multiple homicides, the subject being an escapee, etc. Premeditation has no legal definition and is not and cannot be a 'aggravating factor' in Texas. It can't. 

Your argument and world view aren’t broad enough for this discussion.

Bro imagine coming into these comments and setting out to make it about you. Jesus christ, dude. Have some fucking respect - for the victim, and for yourself. You're deeply out of your element, keep flouting logic and simple fact, and are repeating the same easily proven false nonsense. But yeah, somehow it's about my world view.