Ruffin v. State

OPINION

Appellant was charged with first-degree aggravated assault by shooting at ten police officers during an armed “standoff’ on his rural property in Coryell County. He contended that he was suffering from severe delusions and believed that he was shooting at Muslims, not police officers. He intended to shoot, but not at a public servant. The trial judge excluded testimony by appellant’s psychologist about the existence and severity of his mental disease and delusions, ruling that such expert testimony is admissible only when the defendant is accused of homicide or pleads insanity.…