Christopher Broadus v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District at Austin, reviews Christopher Broadus’s conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child. Broadus challenged the admission of extraneous-offense testimony under Texas Rule of Evidence 403 and alleged errors in the jury charge concerning culpable mental states and result-of-conduct language. The court affirmed the trial court’s judgment of conviction.

Holdings

1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the sister's testimony concerning extraneous sexual offenses. The evidence's probative value was not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, confusion, misleading the jury, undue delay, or cumulative presentation.
2. Assuming without deciding that the trial court erred by including result-of-conduct language in the definitions of intentionally and knowingly, Broadus was not egregiously harmed by the unobjected-to charge error.
3. Broadus did not establish that the trial court placed check marks next to the elements in the jury charge or otherwise commented on the weight of the evidence; the claim was speculative and unsupported by the record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion under Texas Rule of Evidence 403 by admitting the sister's testimony concerning extraneous sexual offenses under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 38.37.
2. Whether including the full statutory definitions of intentionally and knowingly, including result-of-conduct language, in the jury charge caused egregious harm when Broadus did not object.
3. Whether the trial court commented on the weight of the evidence by allegedly placing check marks next to the elements in the jury charge.

Disposition

affirmed