Gary Lynn Murphy, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed the Dallas Court of Appeals, holding that the trial court erred by admitting unadjudicated extraneous offenses during the punishment phase to assess probation eligibility; the statutory amendment to Art. 37.07, §3(a) excludes such evidence, and the error was not harmless. Several dissenting and concurring opinions argued that the statute permits the evidence or criticized the majority’s reasoning.