×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense
by Douglas Ankney
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held that Marvin Rodriguez satisfied the requirements of confession and avoidance. The TCCA also instructed that Martinez v. State, 775 S.W.2d 645 (Tex. Crim. App. 1989), remains good law.
Rodriguez was charged with murder for shooting and killing Richard ...
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Acquitted Conduct Sentencing, by Douglas Ankney
- Mental Health Response Teams Proved Effective in New York City, by Casey Bastian
- ‘Planning for Losing’: A Lesson on Justice Reform from Afghanistan, by Marc Levin
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: State’s Failure to Plead Procedural Default Results in De Novo Review on Merits; Prosecutor’s Comments to Jury to Send ‘Societal Message’ Denied Defendant Fair Trial, Habeas Relief Warranted, by Dale Chappell
- Mental Illness and False Confessions: A Wakeup Call to Investigators, by Joseph Buckley
- Georgia Supreme Court Declares ‘Relevance’ Not Legal Standard for Suppression Determination Where Items Seized Outside Scope of Warrant, Clarifies Plain View Doctrine Proper Standard, and Overrules McBee, Walsh Line of Cases, by Anthony Accurso
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces 2011 SORA May Not Be Retroactively Applied to Registrants Whose Offenses Predated Its Enactment Because Doing So Violates Prohibition on Ex Post Facto Laws, by Douglas Ankney
- California Now Able to Decertify Bad Cops, by Edward Lyon
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Although Subsequent Indictment Recites Same Language as Original Indictment, SOL Isn’t Tolled Where Subsequent Indictment Fails to Charge Same Conduct, Act, or Transaction, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Refusing to Allow Withdrawal of Jury-Trial Waiver for Defendant Who Ultimately Rejected Plea Deal, by David Reutter
- Idaho Supreme Court Rejects ‘Instinctive Entry Rule’ as Not Implicating Fourth Amendment Where Drug-Sniffing Dog Breaches Interior of Vehicle During Exterior Search and Suppresses Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
- SCOTUS Announces Pursuit of a Misdemeanant Does Not Categorically Constitute an Exigent Circumstance Authorizing a Warrantless Home Entry, by Douglas Ankney
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces New Framework for Enforcing Right to Effective Counsel in Post-Conviction Relief Act Proceeding, by Douglas Ankney
- Connecticut Supreme Court Overrules Aquino, Holding Appeal Not Moot Where Defendant Deported During Pendency but Unclear Whether Appealed Conviction Sole Basis for Deportation, by Douglas Ankney
- Nevada Supreme Court: Prisoner’s Claim He Is Now Actually Innocent of Death Penalty Sufficient to Overcome Proce-dural Bars to Habeas Relief, by Douglas Ankney
- California Court of Appeal: Peremptory Challenge to Judge in Habeas Case Subject to 10-Day Filing Period, Not 60 Days, Under § 170.6(a)(1), by Dale Chappell
- SCOTUS: Rehaif Error Doesn’t Automatically Require Reversal of Conviction, Plain-Error Test Must Be Satisfied for Re-lief, by Dale Chappell
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Abandonment of Per Se Exigency Rule in Automobile Exception and Holds Warrantless Seizure or Search Must Be Based on Actual Exigent Circumstances, by Jacob Barrett
- Tenth Circuit, Joining Sister Circuits, Announces ‘Personal-Use’ Drug Quantity Doesn’t Constitute ‘Relevant Conduct’ Under Guidelines § 1B1.3(a) and Sets Forth Framework for Burden of Proof Analysis, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Bodycam Video Subsequently Reviewed in Unrelated Investigation Constitutes Unconstitutional Warrantless Search, by Anthony Accurso
- Concealed Videos Expose Pattern of Abuse by Louisiana State Police, by Jayson Hawkins
- Vermont Supreme Court Announces Proper Legal Standard for Warrantless Search of Home’s Curtilage, by Anthony Accurso
- Eighth Circuit: Inadmissible Hearsay Improperly Used to Revoke Supervised Release, by Matthew Clarke
- Facial Recognition Run-Down, by Anthony Accurso
- Rutgers University Pioneers New Jersey Innocence Project, by Casey Bastian
- Massachusetts Remains a Civil Forfeiture Outlier, by Jayson Hawkins
- Sixth Circuit: Michigan’s Ordinarily ‘Adequate’ Contemporaneous-Objection Rule, in Unique Circumstances, May Not Procedurally Bar Federal Habeas Review, by Dale Chappell
- Non-Prosecution Policies Seem to Work in Baltimore, by Jayson Hawkins
- DEA Continues to Seize Money Without Proof of Criminality, by Casey Bastian
- Florida’s Catch-22 for the Innocent Defendant (and Others Wishing to Protect Their Right Against Self-Incrimination), by M. Eve Hanan
- Big Tech Using Third Parties to Sell Surveillance Tools to ICE and Border Patrol, by Anthony Accurso
- Pegasus Software: State-sponsored Spyware Usage Likely Infecting Billions of Phones, by Casey Bastian
- Armed Police Drones Are Coming, by Anthony Accurso
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Fourth Circuit: Maryland’s First-Degree Assault Statute Is Indivisible so Conviction Is Not an ACCA Predicate for Sentencing Enhancement Purposes, May 15, 2024
- Tenth Circuit: Plea Not Knowing and Voluntary Where Plea Counsel Materially Misrepresented Defendant’s Right to Impartial Jury Selected Through Racially Nondiscriminatory Means, May 15, 2024
- New York Court of Appeals: SORA Designation Violates Defendant’s Due Process Rights Where Crime Involved No Sexual Contact or Motivation and Defendant Was Not a Sex Offender and Posed No Risk of Sexual Threat, May 15, 2024
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Defendants Under Age 21 Ineligible for LWOP Sentences, May 15, 2024
- New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Extension of Eyewitness Identification Safeguards of Henderson to Pretrial Preparation Sessions and Provides Framework for Showing Photos During Pretrial Phase, May 15, 2024
- $175,000 Awarded to Former California Detainee Whose Suit Prompted DOJ Investigation and Settlement Requiring Structural Changes at Jail, April 26, 2024
- Eighth Circuit Announces ‘Categorical Approach’ Applies to SORNA Tier Analysis, April 15, 2024
- New York Court of Appeals Declines to Adopt Per Se Rule That Handcuffed Person Is Always ‘In Custody’ for Miranda Purposes, but Holds the Handcuffed Defendant Was ‘In Custody’ and Suppress Incriminating Statements, April 15, 2024
- Fifth Circuit: Admission of DHS Investigation Form G-166F at Trial Where Preparer of Form Did Not Testify Violates Confrontation Clause and Rule Against Hearsay, April 15, 2024
- Does the Fourth Amendment Protect Cellphones at the Border?, April 15, 2024
More from these topics:
- Research Paper Reveals Laypeople Have Insufficient Understanding of False Confessions by Examining Prior Research Based on Surveys and Mock Juries, March 15, 2024. Commentary/Reviews, False Confessions, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
- Michigan Supreme Court: Defendant’s Statements Involuntary and Inadmissible, Feb. 15, 2024. Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness.
- The Diminishment of Miranda Is Leading to False Confessions and Conviction of Innocents, Feb. 15, 2024. Commentary/Reviews, Wrongful Conviction, Confessions - Admissibility, Impeachment Evidence/Purposes, Miranda, Interrogation, In Custody, Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness.
- Oregon Supreme Court Clarifies Test to Determine When Person Becomes Agent of the State and Rules Jailhouse Snitch Was Agent, Requiring Suppression of Defendant’s Statements, Jan. 15, 2024. Informants, Post-Arrest Statements, Informants and Paid Witnesses, Confessions - Admissibility, Police Interrogations, Custodial Interrogations, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
- Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies When Lesser-Included Offense Instruction Must Be Provided, Reverses Convictions Based on Trial Court’s Failure to Properly Instruct Jury, Dec. 15, 2023. Jury Instructions, Criminal Procedure, Fair Trial, Verdicts.
- California Supreme Court Vacates Second Degree Murder Conviction Where Jury Instructed on Now Invalid Felony-Murder Theory, Oct. 1, 2023. Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions, Murder/Felony Murder.
- New York Court of Appeals Announces When an Alternate Juror Is ‘Discharged’ and no Longer ‘Available for Service’, May 15, 2023. Jury Instructions, Jurors - Alternates.
- Hawaii Supreme Court: Plain Error Not Providing ‘Incidental Restraint’ Jury Instruction Where Kidnapping Only Charge After Dismissing Abuse Charges Prior to Trial, April 15, 2023. Restraints, Jury Instructions, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Plain/Harmless Error.
- New Jersey Supreme Court: Allowing Jury to Hear Defendant’s Invocation of Right to Counsel in Recorded Statement Together With Prosecutor Inferring Guilt Based on Request for Counsel Entitles Defendant to New Trial, March 15, 2023. Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions, Counsel - Right to, Perjury/Perjured Testimony.
- Hundreds Convicted by Split Juries Will Have New Trials After Oregon Supreme Court Decision, Jan. 12, 2023. Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions.