Opinion
NO. WR-64,654-02
05-27-2016
Ex parte CHARLES DON FLORES, Applicant
ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS CAUSE NO. F98-02133 IN THE 195TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF DALLAS COUNTY NEWELL, J., filed a concurring opinion.
I concur in this Court's decision to stay the execution in this case. Applicant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death based in part upon hypnotically-enhanced eyewitness testimony. As we have noted in Tillman v. State, eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions across the country. Tillman v. State, 354 S.W.3d 425, 441 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). I cannot imagine that the concerns regarding suggestive eyewitness identification evaporate when eyewitness testimony is enhanced through hypnotism. Regardless of whether Applicant can ultimately prevail in his subsequent writ, he has made a prima facie case that Article 11.073 applies and this Court rightly stays the proceedings so he can develop that claim. We may ultimately grant relief. We may ultimately deny relief. But either way, given the subject matter, by granting a stay this Court acknowledges that whatever we do, we owe a clear explanation for our decision to the citizens of Texas. And at this juncture, I see no reason to enhance the arguments of either party by arguing the merits.
With these thoughts I concur. Filed: May 27, 2016 Do Not Publish