Cartier v. State

DON H. REAVIS, Justice.

Upon a plea of not guilty, appellant Joseph Hill Cartier was convicted by a jury of murder and punishment was assessed at confinement for life and a $10,000 fine. By two points of error, appellant contends (1) he was denied due process under the Federal Constitution through the failure of section 19.02 of the Texas Penal Code to provide him with a “vehicle” by which the jury could give effect to mitigating evidence that had distinct relevance to punishment separate and apart from its tendency to establish the existence of sudden passion in the underlying facts of the…