Flanagan v. State
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
675 S.W.2d 734 (1982)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
One morning around 1:00 a.m., an off-duty police officer was driving his truck when he noticed the car traveling in front of him weaving in and out of the highway lanes. He then saw the front-seat passenger lean out of the car and fire a shotgun at his truck. The officer pulled over and called police to report the incident. Police tracked down Dennis Flanagan (defendant) based on the car details the off-duty officer provided and arrested him, after which the off-duty officer identified Flanagan as the passenger who shot the gun. Flanagan claimed that he had been the driver, not the passenger, and denied shooting the gun. At Flanagan’s trial, the police officer testified that Flanagan pointed and fired the gun directly at him while leaning out of the car window. Flanagan was convicted of attempted murder and appealed. On appeal, a panel of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that the evidence was insufficient to show that Flanagan had the specific intent to kill. The state argued in a motion for rehearing that the panel incorrectly held that attempted murder required a specific intent to kill.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Miller, J.)
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