Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of May 6, 2019.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Coleman v. State, No. 02-17-00123-CR (May 9, 2019) (Pittman, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J.).

Held: In this possession of methamphetamine case, the State did not violate the Michael Morton Act, appellant’s due process rights, nor his rights under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by failing to learn the identity of the “tipster” that led police to locate and arrest appellant.  Furthermore, the trial court did not err by denying appellant’s motion for disclosure of the tipster’s identity, nor did the trial court abuse its discretion by initially not allowing appellant to attempt to impeach the arresting officer in this case with an alleged prior inconsistent statement.  The trial court did reversibly err, however, by overruling defense counsel’s objection to the prosecutor’s repeated improper jury argument during the punishment phase of trial, and this error harmed appellant.