Kenneth Julian Palafox, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court reversed Kenneth Julian Palafox's capital murder conviction, holding that the State failed to rebut exculpatory statements in his confession that negated the robbery element required for the capital offense. The majority applied the Mullaney rule that such statements must be disproved beyond a reasonable doubt. Two dissenting opinions argued that the rule binding the State to exculpatory confession statements should be abandoned and that the judgment should be affirmed.