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

Summary

The Court held that the trial judge’s refusal to give the defendant’s requested jury instruction on the admissibility of breath‑test evidence was not an impermissible comment on the weight of the evidence, and that the proper harmless‑error standard for reviewing that error is article 36.19 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, not rule 81(b)(2). Accordingly, the Court vacated the conviction and remanded for a new harmless‑error analysis under article 36.19. Justice Mansfield dissented, arguing the instruction was an improper comment on the evidence.