Ex parte Thomas Castillo (original by judge hervey)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Thomas Castillo was convicted of burglary and aggravated assault for his attack on his estranged wife and a man with whom she lived following separation. Appellant was charged in two separate indictments returned on the same day. All of the charges stemmed from the same incident. Before the capital-murder trial began, Appellant moved to consolidate the indictments and for the State to specify how the predicate burglary for the capital-murder charge was committed. The State objected, and the trial court 4 denied Appellant’s motions. At the charge conference, Appellant asked for lesser-included-offense instructions on murder and manslaughter, which the trial court denied. Appellant was subsequently acquitted of capital murder. After his acquittal, and before Appellant’s second trial for burglary and aggravated assault, Appellant filed a pretrial writ application arguing that the second prosecution was barred by double jeopardy. The trial court denied Appellant’s application, and he appealed. The San Antonio Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court and remanded the cause for the second indictment to be dismissed. The State then filed a petition for discretionary review on three grounds, arguing that the court of appeals erred when it decided that the second prosecution of Appellant was jeopardy barred. Because we hold that the burglary charge is jeopardy barred, but the aggravated assault is not, we will affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in part and reverse it in part.
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