Absalon v. Texas (original by judge meyers)
Annotate this CaseIn 2012, Appellant was convicted of the 1984 murder of Ginger Hayden. During Appellant’s trial, several people who had participated in substance-abuse treatment with him were permitted to testify that he had confessed to them that he had committed the murder. Appellant had filed a pretrial motion to suppress the testimony on the ground that, because his statements were made during the course of voluntary substance-abuse treatment, Article 38.101 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and Rule of Evidence 509(b) made them inadmissible. The trial court, however, denied his motion because his participation was part of a court-ordered condition of probation and, therefore, not voluntary. The court of appeals affirmed. After review, the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded Appellant's participation in the substance-abuse program was not voluntary, and therefore it was not error to admit the testimony of the other participants in the program.
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