Preston Hughes, Iii, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court reversed Preston Hughes III's capital murder conviction and remanded for further proceedings, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that Hughes constituted a continuing threat to society and that the trial court abused its discretion in denying a challenge for cause of prospective juror Faulkner. The reversal was based on a de novo review of the sufficiency of the future dangerousness evidence and an abuse‑of‑discretion review of the juror challenge. Two dissenting opinions contest the majority's conclusions on the juror issue and on the propriety of the State's argument during closing. The dissenting judges argue that the trial judge acted within discretion and that the error was not harmless.