Court Opinion

ID: 9858589
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:32:14.486724+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:54:59.970165
License: Public Domain

MALONEY, Judge,
dissenting and concurring.
To allow jurors to take notes into the jury room is tantamount to allowing them to fall into the trap of considering their or other juror’s notes as evidence; i.e., it is written, therefore (even if erroneously written), it is true. This trap is particularly dangerous *912where as in this case the trial court did not instruct the jury or caution them concerning the use of their notes during deliberations; although even with instructions I would consider allowing the jurors to use notes during deliberations as error. See Johnson v. State, 887 S.W.2d 957 (Tex.Crim.App.1994) (Maloney, J., dissenting); Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d 949 (Tex.Crim.App.1994) (Maloney, J., dissenting with note).
For the above reasons, I dissent to the court’s judgment in paragraph I of the court’s opinion but join the court in its reversal as stated in paragraph II of its opinion on the basis of Grunsfeld v. State, 843 S.W.2d 521 (Tex.Crim.App.1993).
CLINTON, J., joins.