Ricardo Moreno, Appellant v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of the appellant’s deferred adjudication status to impeach his credibility because the evidence’s probative value was negligible and its prejudicial effect substantial under Rule 403. The Court reasoned that such evidence of an unadjudicated crime is inadmissible for character purposes and, without a specific showing of bias, fails the relevance test. A dissent argued the evidence was highly probative and that the trial court acted within its discretion.