Michael Hughes Atkinson, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals held that the trial judge should have given the defendant's requested jury instruction under Article 38.23 because it was not an impermissible comment on the weight of the evidence, and that the proper harmless error analysis for the refusal to give that instruction is governed by Article 36.19, not Rule 81(b)(2). Accordingly, the Court vacated the lower court's judgment and remanded for a new harmless error assessment. Justice McCormick dissented, arguing the instruction was an impermissible comment on evidence weight.