Cook v. State

This is not a difficult case. Reduced to basics, the issue presented is simply whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jurors at appellant’s trial interpreted the jury charge in a manner that allowed conviction on an unlawful basis. If so, then the charge contains error “calculated to injure the rights of [the] defendant,” and appellant is entitled to a new trial under Article 36.19 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Relevant Facts

On the late evening of July 27,1990, appellant and Michael Williams got into an argument in Dallas regarding Williams’ wife. The argument…