In re Allen (original by judge keasler)
Annotate this CaseIn two capital-murder cases, Tyrone Allen sought a pretrial hearing requesting the trial judge determine whether he was intellectually disabled and therefore exempt from the death penalty if convicted. Over the State’s objection, the judge granted the motions for a pretrial hearing. The court of appeals granted the State mandamus relief, finding that the judge acted outside his authority. The Court of Criminal Appeals conditionally granted Allen’s petitions for writ of mandamus to the court of appeals. Because the Court found that Allen’s request for a pretrial determination of intellectual disability did not call for the execution of a ministerial act, the Court ordered the court of appeals to rescind its judgment conditionally granting the State’s (as Relator below) petitions for writ of mandamus. The writs of mandamus would issue only in the event that the court of appeals fails to comply with this opinion.
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