## IN THE COURT OF CRIMINA L APPEALS OF TEX AS A P - 74, 720 E X P AR T E M AR K R OB E RT S ON ON AP P LI CAT I ON F OR W RI T OF HABE AS CORP US I N C AU S E NO . W 8 9 - 8 5 9 6 1 - L ( B ) F RO M T HE CRI M I NAL DI S TRI CT CO URT NO . 5 OF DALLAS COUN TY P erC uriam . CO CHRAN , J ., not par ti ci pating. OP I NI ON A ppl i cant w as convi ct ed on February 11, 1991, fort he ca pi t al m ur derof Edna B r au,
comm i t t ed dur i ng a r obber y on A ugus t 19, 1989. W e af fi r m ed the convi ct i on and s ent ence
o n d ir e c t a p p e a l. R o b e rts o n v . S ta te , 8 7 1 S
. W
. 2 d 7 0 1 (T ex . C ri m . A p p . 1 9 9 3 ) cer t . deni ed, 513 U
. S. 853 ( 1 9 9 4 )
. On a p p l i c a n t ’ s i n i t i a l a p p l i c a t i o n f o rwr i to f

h a b e a s c o rp u s f

i l ed p u rs u a n t to T e x a s C o d e o f C ri m in a l P ro c e d u re , A rt ic le 1 1 .0 7 1 , w e d e n ie d re lie f
. E x p a rte R ober t s on , W R
- 30, 077- 01 ( T ex. C r i m . A pp. N ovember 18, 1998)
. I n eac h s t at e and fede r al
c o u rt, ap p lica n t as se rte d th a t h e h a d b e e n d e n ied a v e h icle f o r th e ju r y t o c o n sid e r h is
m i t i gat i ng evi dence beca us e he ha d r ece i v ed w h at has c om e t o be ca l l ed a “ nul l i fi cat i onROBERTS ON - 2

Penr y v. Ly naugh , 49 2 U
. S. 30 2 (19 8 9 ) ( P enr y I ). 1 i ns t ruct i on. ” I n every venue hi s r eques t s forr el i ef w er e deni ed. J us tbefor e the dat e s etfor hi s e x e c u t i o n i n Aug u s t 2 0 0 3 , a p p l i c a n t f i l e d a s u b s e q u e n t a p p l i c a t i o n , a g a i n r a i s i n g t he cl ai m t hatt he nul l i fi cat i on i ns t ruct i on i m per m i s s i bl y l i m i t ed t he j ur y ’ s abi l i t y t o cons i derand g ive e ff ec t t o m it igating ev iden ce p rese n ted d u ri n g tr ial
. O n A u g u st 19 , 2 0 0 3 , this C o u rt
s t ay ed hi s exec ut i on w hi l e w e cons i der ed an i dent i cal cl ai m i n E x p a rte L a roy c e L a th a ir Sm ith , 132 S. W
. 3d 407 ( T ex. C ri m . A p p . 2004)
. H ow ever , on J une 24, 2004, t he U ni t ed St at es Supr em e C o ur tdeci ded Tennar d v. D r etke , 1 2 4 S .C t. 25 6 2 (2 0 0 4 ), an d sp e c if ica lly di s appr oved of t he t es t us ed by t he Fi ft h C i r cui ti n P enry cl ai m s ; t he same t es tus ed i n t he 1 F if th C ir c u it d e c is i o n in th e c a s e b e f o re u s , R o b e rts o n v . C o c kre ll , 3 2 5 F
. 3 d 2 4 3 (5 C ir
. th 2003) , and al s o appl i ed byt hi s C our ti n E x p a rte Sm ith
. A s a r esul t , t he S up rem e C ou rtal so
r ever s ed ourdeci s i on i n Sm i th v. Texas , 1 2 5 S .C t. 4 0 0 (20 0 4 ), h o lding that this C o u rt
as s es s ed t he cl ai m under an i m pr oper l egal s t andar d. A ppl y i ng t he hol di ng i n Sm i th v. Texas t o t hi s c a s e , we h e l d t h a t t h e c l a i m wa s u n a v a i l a b l e o n t h e d a t e a p p l i c a n t f i l e d h i s i ni t i al
a p p lica tio n a n d th a t a p p lica n t m e t th e re q u ire m e n ts fo r co n sid e ra tio n o f h is su b se q u e n t cla im underA r t i cl e 11. 071, Sect i on 5. T he ca s e w as rem an d ed t o t he convi ct i ng cour tfor
con si derat i on of the cl ai m . T he co nv i ct i ng cou rtm ade d et ai l ed findings and con cl usi on s. T he convi ct i ng cour tfound t hatappl i cantpr es ent ed mi t i gat i ng evi dence , fo r w h ic h under P enr y I t her e had t o be an adequa t e m eans for t he j ur yt o cons i derbey ond t he l i m i t s of t he
s peci al i s s ues , t hatappl i canthad r eques t ed s uch a means , and that w hen pr es ent ed w i t h t heROBERTS ON - 3

nul l i fi cat i on i ns t ruct i on, appl i cantobj ect ed thati ts t i l l di d notgi ve the j ur ya pr operm eans t o co nsi der hi s m i t i gati ng evidence. B ased on ou r r eview of the recor d, w e ado pt tho se fi ndi ngs and agr ee thatr el i ef s houl d be gr ant ed. A ppl i cant ’ s s ent ence i s r ever s ed, and t he cas e i s r emanded t o t he convi ct i ng cour tfor
a n e w trial o n p u n ish m e n t. D el i ver ed: M ar ch 12, 2008 D o N ot Pub l i sh