Billy Ray Green, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed Billy Ray Green's conviction for public lewdness, holding that the statutory term "knowingly" applies only to the deviant sexual act, not to the public place element; that the booth was part of a public place; that officers observing through a small gap did not conduct a search; and that the trial judge's refusal to give the requested jury instructions and to admit certain defensive evidence did not constitute reversible error. Justice Roberts, dissenting, argued that the exclusion of defensive testimony and the failure to limit the public place definition to booth No. 18 were errors warranting reversal.