Moreno v. Texas (original by presiding judge keller)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Ricky Moreno claimed the defense of duress in his prosecution for aggravated kidnapping. In connection with this defense, he sought to offer evidence that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The trial court excluded this evidence, but the court of appeals reversed, holding that evidence of PTSD was relevant to showing duress. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed, because the defense of duress applied only to the type of compulsion that a person of “reasonable firmness” could not resist and PTSD evidence would show merely that the defendant had a greater sensitivity to compulsion than a person of reasonable firmness. Consequently, the Court reversed the court of appeals' judgment.
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