Watts v. State

OPINION

joined by MEYERS, PRICE, JOHNSON, and HOLCOMB, JJ.

A jury convicted appellant of discharging raw sewage from a broken septic tank line on his property into or adjacent to water in the state, in violation of Water Code section 26.121(a)(1).1 We must determine whether the trial judge, when taking judicial notice of a Texas water pollution case entitled American Plant Food v. State,2 properly restricted her comments to notice of adjudicative facts, or whether she improperly commented on the weight of the evidence before the jury.3 The court of appeals held that there was no error, either…