Phillip Daniel Tompkins, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed Phillip Daniel Tompkins' conviction for capital murder and death sentence, holding that the trial court properly applied Batson to reject the claim of purposeful racial discrimination in jury selection, that the indictment was sufficient, that the common‑law‑marriage privilege did not bar testimony, that no lesser‑offense instructions were required, and that the psychologist and reputation witnesses were admissible; the dissent (Judge Clinton) argued the Court erred on the mental‑state analysis.