Ross v. State

Summary

The court reversed Ross's capital-murder conviction and death sentence and remanded for a new trial because the trial court improperly excluded a defense witness's statement that materially impeached the State's principal witness without conducting the required discovery-violation hearing. The court also held that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance during sentencing by failing to investigate and present significant psychological and prison-disciplinary mitigation evidence. The court rejected Ross's remaining challenges, including those concerning jury selection, evidence, competency, the death-penalty eligibility hearing, jury instructions, family-impact mitigation, indictment sufficiency, and the sufficiency of the evidence.