Martinez v. State

As Judge Dally demonstrated in Shipman v. State, 604 S.W.2d 182 (Tex.Cr.App. 1980), almost one hundred years of precedent supports the rules there followed, viz:

“When a witness is cross-examined on a collateral matter, the cross-examining party may not then contradict the witness’ answer, [citations dating to 1889 omitted], A matter is collateral if the cross-examining party would not be entitled to prove that matter as a part of his case tending to establish his plea, [citations dating to 1883 omitted].”

Id., at 183-184.1 It is not that “by clever maneuvering” the prosecutor “procured the…