Richard William Kutzner, Appellant v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and death sentence of Richard William Kutzner and upheld the convicting court's denial of DNA testing, holding that a Chapter 64 DNA proceeding is a "criminal case" for constitutional purposes and that Article 64.05 authorizes appellate review of the convicting court's determinations under Article 64.03, including both factual findings and legal conclusions. The Court found that Kutzner failed to meet the statutory preponderance standards for both the probability of innocence and the lack of delay. Separate concurring opinions agreed with the judgment but disagreed with the majority's statutory interpretation.