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Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Intoxication Offenses

49.3  Definition of “Operate”

Comment

The instructions in this chapter do not define the term operate. The court of criminal appeals in Kirsch v. State, 357 S.W.3d 645 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012), held that the trial court erred in defining the term in jury instructions. “[N]othing in our case law suggests that a risk exists that jurors may arbitrarily apply an inaccurate definition to the term ‘operate’ or that an express definition is required to assure a fair understanding of the evidence.” Kirsch, 357 S.W.3d at 650.