Opinion

Hurt v. State

  • 480 S.W.2d 747
  • 1972 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 2204
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
May 31, 1972
Status
Published
Author
Morrison
On the bench
Roberts, Morrison, Douglas
Cited by
4 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.8%

The opinion

MORRISON, Judge

(concurring).

I agree with the reversal of this conviction and shall state my reasons.

I believe the train got off the track when the State took the position that the expert witness, Dr. Bublis became a reputation or character witness when she took the stand in mitigation of punishment due to appellant’s mental problems. She was not qualified by appellant as either a character or reputation witness. See Brown v. State, supra, and Jones v. State, Tex.Cr. App., 479 S.W.2d 307 (1972). Therefore, she should not have been subjected to “have you heard” type questions which are reserved for character and reputation witnesses under Article 37.07, Sec. 3(a), V.A. C.C.P. This is the converse of the situation presented in Allaben v. State, Tex.Cr. App., 418 S.W.2d 517 . I believe the learned trial judge failed to pull the train back on the track by misinterpreting the reason Dr. Bublis was presented as a witness for the appellant.

I concur.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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