Rudy Ramos Esquivel, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed the capital murder conviction and death sentence, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion on a series of procedural issues including the denial of a continuance, denial of a special venire, voir dire limitations, challenges to the juror array, excusing jurors, and admission of expert opinion; all appellant's grounds of error were overruled. Justice Clinton dissented, arguing that the jury should be allowed to consider mitigating circumstances when answering the first special question.