Walker v. State
Texas Court of Appeals
300 S.W.3d 836 (2009)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Korey Walker (defendant) pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance. When Walker did not appear at his sentencing hearing, the state (plaintiff) issued a warrant for his arrest. During the arrest attempt, Walker exchanged gunfire with police. At Walker’s trial for this exchange, the state called Walker’s acquaintance Katrina Smith as a witness. Walker had spoken to Smith after the incident with the police. At trial, Smith testified that she and Walker did not talk about the police during that conversation. At this point, the state sought to introduce a prior inconsistent statement that Smith had made to a police detective about the conversation. Over Walker’s objection, the trial court permitted the question and instructed the jury that it could use the prior statement to assess Smith’s credibility. The instruction did not otherwise restrict the jury’s use of the statement. The court’s final charge to the jury did, however, state that the jury could use the statement for no reason other than assessing Smith’s credibility. Walker was convicted, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Livingston, J.)
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