Court Opinion

ID: 9778090
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:31:53.64415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:03.580745
License: Public Domain

SEERDEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Appellant’s fourth ground of error complains of improper jury argument by the State. The argument is quoted in the majority opinion. While it is true that the defendant raised the issue of his insanity as a defense in this prosecution, the mere fact that such issue is raised gives no cause for the State to have unfettered license to bring before the jury comparisons of the defendant with the most notorious fiends and mass murderers known to history. I agree that the rules set out governing jury argument as contained in Alejandro v. State, 493 S.W.2d 230 (Tex.Crim.App.1973) govern arguments in this instance. I disagree with the majority that the complained of argument was in response to any legitimate issue or argument raised by defense counsel or that it came from any summation or reasonable deduction from the evidence. I would hold the argument to constitute reversible error in that it was manifestly improper, harmful, and prejudical and it injected new and harmful facts into the case by comparing this defendant to the “Ayotollah, whoever he is,” and to Hitler.