Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
The State of Texas ex rel. Charles A. Rosenthal, Jr. v. the Honorable…
February 12, 20032003 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 37
Summary
The Court conditionally granted the State’s petition for a writ of mandamus, holding that the trial judge’s order permitting videotaping of jury deliberations in a capital murder trial violates the plain language of Article 36.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The Court found that the statute clearly bars any person, including a camera, from being with the jury while it deliberates, and that mandamus is appropriate because there is no adequate legal remedy. Separate dissenting opinions argued that the statute is ambiguous and that mandamus should not be issued.