PD-0145-09, John Christopher Covey, Jr. v. State: The CCA granted the defendant’s petition for discretionary review with oral argument in this attempted sexual assault case out of Nolan County on the following issue:
The Court of Appeals erred in holding Appellant has not established he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel.Click here for a summary of the underlying case.
PD-0261-09, Delvetra Lasherl Jennings v. State: The CCA granted the defendant’s petition for discretionary review with oral argument in this burglary of a habitation case out of Hale County on the following issues:
1. Were the jury verdict forms submitted to the jury in this case a part of the court's charge to the jury?Click here for a summary of the underlying case.
2. If the jury verdict forms submitted to the jury in this case were not part of the jury charge, are the forms an integral part of the verdict and subsequent judgment of the court based on the jury's verdict?
3. Should an improper verdict form submitted to the jury in this case be subject to the harm analysis described in Almanza v. State?
4. Were Petitioner's due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United State's Constitution and right to due course of law under Article 1, §19 of the Texas Constitution violated as a result of the failure of the court to submit a "not guilty" verdict on all charges to the jury?
PD-0379-09, Brian Thomas Kirsch v. State: The CCA granted the defendant’s petition for discretionary review without oral argument in this DWI case out of Harris County on the following issue:
The First Court of Appeals erred in permitting a jury charge for per se intoxication when evidence of appellant’s blood alcohol level was admitted pursuant to a limiting instruction and there was no evidence that appellant was intoxicated per se at the time he was driving the automobile.Click here for a summary of how the court of appeals addressed the issue.
