Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a woman who was convicted of theft in 2015. The prosecution used her 2001 federal felony conviction from Alaska to enhance the theft offense to a first-degree felony, resulting in a forty-year…

Justia Opinion Summary: The appellant, sentenced to death for capital murder, had his conviction and sentence affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. He submitted multiple motions and applications challenging his competence to be…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas ruled that a peace officer can legally arrest a suspect, without a warrant, for killing another person while driving intoxicated, even if the accident did not occur in the officer's…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Texas, the appellant was stopped by an officer for failing to remain in a single lane of traffic. After the officer smelled alcohol on the appellant's breath and observed signs of intoxication, he obtained a warrant…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a case reviewed by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, the trial court mistakenly permitted an alternate juror to participate in the jury's deliberations and vote on the defendant's guilt. The defendant, charged…

Justia Opinion Summary: Harry Donald Nicholson Jr. was sitting in his parked truck at a gas station when he began throwing tissues out of his window. An officer noticed the litter, approached Nicholson, and asked him to pick up the tissues.…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this consolidated case, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals interpreted the 2017 amendments to Texas Penal Code Section 32.21, the forgery statute. The statute provides that a basic forgery offense is a Class A…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, the defendant, Jemadari Chinua Williams, was charged with aggravated promotion of prostitution. The indictment against him followed the language of the relevant…