Justia Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Opinion Summaries

Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. At issue on appeal was whether a court's refusal to compel testimony from a defense witness based on her invocation of her 5th Amendment rights without a determination of a reasonable basis for "a real and substantial fear of prosecution" a violation of petitioner's rights to due process and due course of law. The court held that the Court of Appeals' judgment affirming defendant's conviction was correct because the trial court's inquiry into the witness' assertion of the privilege was sufficient. The court overruled its earlier opinion in Ross v. State and affirmed the judgment. View "Walters v. State" on Justia Law