Monday, April 29, 2013

Johnson v. State case brief

Johnson v. State case brief
967 S.W.2d 410, 1998 Tex. Crim. App.

CASE SYNOPSIS: Appellant sought review of the decision of the court of Bexar County (Texas), which convicted appellant of capital murder and sentenced appellant to death. Appellant raised 53 points of error on direct appeal.

FACTS: Appellant was convicted of capital murder for the shooting death of a man, and was sentenced to death. On appeal, appellant raised 53 points of error, including allegations regarding the sufficiency of the evidence, and the admission of extraneous evidence.

ANALYSIS:
The previously recorded statement of a prosecution witness was read into the record after the witness indicated that he had no recollection of the events in question. The court held that the statement was admitted without proper predicate under Tex. R. Evid. 803(5). The court held that the trial court committed an additional error requiring reversal when it admitted evidence of two prior extraneous offenses of which appellant had been acquitted. The court reversed appellant's conviction and sentence and remanded for new trial.

CONCLUSION: The court reversed appellant's capital murder conviction and remanded for a new trial. The court held that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting the recorded recollection of a prosecution witness without proper predicate, and in admitting evidence of two prior extraneous offenses which appellant was acquitted of.

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