Gerardo Flores, Appellant v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Court affirmed the conviction, holding that Texas’s capital‑murder statute is constitutional under due‑process, equal‑protection and establishment‑clause analysis, and that the trial court properly refused a lesser‑included‑offense instruction because the evidence supported intent rather than mere reckless conduct. The Court also rejected the appellant’s pre‑trial due‑process and equal‑protection challenges as unpreserved. Justice Cochrane, in a concurring opinion, argued that the equal‑protection claim should have been considered despite the pre‑trial filing rule.