The State of Texas, Appellee v. Danny Joe Daugherty, Appellant

Summary

The Court held that Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.23(a) does not incorporate the federal inevitable discovery doctrine; evidence obtained in violation of the law must be excluded regardless of any hypothetical lawful discovery. It also affirmed that the appellate court must conduct a Rule 81(b)(2) harm analysis sua sponte when evidence is improperly admitted. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals was vacated and the case remanded for further proceedings. The opinion was contested by a dissent and two partial concurrences arguing that the inevitable discovery doctrine should be applied.