Jones v. State

OPINION

HOLMAN, Justice.

Appellant Kenneth Bernard Jones appeals his conviction and sentence of life in prison for a murder he committed in 1995. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.02 (Vernon 1994). We affirm.

The first issue is whether in 1993 the Legislature unconstitutionally shifted the burden of proof in murder trials from the State to the accused by enacting language in section 19.02(d) 1 that reduces a murder charge from a first to a second degree felony provided that the accused proves by a preponderance of the evidence at the trial’s punishment phase that he caused the death under the…