Steven Anthony Butler, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas affirmed the trial court's death sentence, holding that the trial court correctly handled the Batson issue by dismissing the mini‑panel, properly granted challenges for cause, properly denied a voluntariness instruction, properly admitted the medical examiner's testimony, and that any error in failing to instruct the jury to disregard Hartman's testimony was harmless. The Court also rejected appellant's constitutional challenges under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and found no ineffective assistance of counsel. Justice Clinton dissented, arguing that dismissing only the mini‑panel was insufficient under Batson, and Justice Maloney concurred in the result.