Jeffrie Sterling Lane, Jr. v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, affirmed Jeffrie Sterling Lane, Jr.'s conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and his sentence of thirty-five years' confinement and a $5,000 fine. Lane argued that the guilt-innocence jury charge gave an incomplete instruction concerning extraneous-offense evidence. The court held that because Lane did not request contemporaneous limiting instructions when the evidence was admitted, the evidence was admitted for all purposes and the trial court did not err in omitting additional restrictions from the charge.

Holdings

1. When a defendant does not request a limiting instruction under Texas Rule of Evidence 105 at the time extraneous-offense evidence is admitted, the evidence is admitted for all purposes, and the trial court has no duty later to restrict the jury's consideration of that evidence in the guilt-innocence charge.
2. The trial court did not err by failing to add an instruction prohibiting consideration of extraneous-offense evidence for propensity purposes or other purposes not listed in the instruction, because the evidence had been admitted for all purposes and Lane identified no authority requiring such additional language.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that it could not consider extraneous-offense evidence for propensity purposes or for purposes not listed in the court's guilt-innocence charge after the defendant failed to request contemporaneous limiting instructions when the evidence was admitted.

Disposition

affirmed