Lopez v. State

A jury convicted appellant Alvaro Exau Lopez of murder and sentenced him to sixty years' confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division. In a single issue, appellant challenges his conviction on the ground that the trial court's failure to sua sponte provide the jury a punishment mitigation charge on voluntary intoxication caused him egregious harm. We disagree and affirm appellant's conviction.

Background

A grand jury indicted appellant for the murder of the decedent, Camelia Garza. At appellant's jury trial, the following facts were adduced.

On August 30, 2009,…