IN THE
TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-99-213-CR
     TERRENCE MARKEITH KELLEY,
                                                                         Appellant
     v.
     THE STATE OF TEXAS,
                                                                         Appellee
From the 40th District Court
Ellis County, Texas
Trial Court # 22,409-CR
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Â
C O N C U R R I N G O P I N I O N
                                                                                                                  Â
       On the record before this court, I cannot conclude that the trial court erred by admitting certain photographs. Appellant concedes the relevancy of the photographs by acknowledging they are âsomewhat probative.â His complaint relates solely to the balancing of the probative value against the danger of unfair prejudice. The substance of the photographs was already in evidence by testimony without objection. Other photographs of the victimâs body at the autopsy were also in evidence. While the probative value may have been low, given the other evidence before the jury the danger that the graphic photographs of Ramirez âcovered and surrounded by blood and medical equipmentâ would be unfairly prejudicial is also very low. In reviewing the trial courtâs balancing test determination, a reviewing court is to reverse the trial courtâs judgment ârarely and only after a clear abuse of discretion.â Mozon v. State, 991 S.W.2d 841, 847 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Thus, I cannot join the conclusion that the trial court abused its discretion in holding that the danger of unfair prejudice did not outweigh the probative value of the photographs and admitting them. Because the Courtâs opinion concludes the error was harmless, an analysis with which I do agree, I join in the result.
                                                                         TOM GRAY
                                                                         Justice
Concurring opinion delivered and filed June 21, 2000
Publish
b>Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401, 404 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003). We, therefore, proceed with our Rule 403 analysis.
Under Rule 403, relevant evidence may be excluded where its Âprobative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. Tex. R. Evid. 403. When conducting a Rule 403 analysis, the trial court must balance: (1) the inherent probative force of the proffered item of evidence; (2) the proponentÂs need for that evidence; (3) any tendency of the evidence to suggest decision on an improper basis; (4) any tendency of the evidence to confuse or distract the jury from the main issues; (5) any tendency of the evidence to be given undue weight by a jury that has not been equipped to evaluate the probative force of the evidence; and (6) the likelihood that presentation of the evidence will consume an inordinate amount of time or merely repeat evidence already admitted.  Gigliobianco v. State, 210 S.W.3d 637, 641-42 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006); Newton v. State, No. 10-06-00160-CR, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 6534, at *9-10 (Tex. App.ÂWaco Aug. 19, 2009, no pet. h.).Â
           Carter opined that Ruffin suffers from Âmajor depression with psychotic features, including Âconsiderable irrationality, delusions, paranoia, and Âlack of contact with reality. He explained Âdelusional thinking to mean Âbeliefs that arenÂt based in reality, but a delusional person often believes that the delusions are true. Ruffin believed he was communicating with aliens and was an heir to the English throne. Carter further explained that a paranoid person believes that Âpeople are out to get him and is suspicious and mistrustful. According to Carter, Ruffin Âinterprets what [people] say and do according to his irrational or paranoid thinking, so his response to them is going to be based on his own irrationality as opposed to the other personÂs more rational state of being. He reviewed the recording of RuffinÂs conversation with the police negotiator, whom Ruffin believed was a doctor. Carter believed that Ruffin was paranoid, irrational, hearing and seeing things, and unaware of the affect of his behavior on others on the night of the offense. He opined that RuffinÂs condition Âdiminished his capacity to make rational judgments.Â
Several of RuffinÂs friends and family members testified to his mental state. They testified that Ruffin was obsessed with the color orange, burned his motherÂs paintings because they contained other colors, talked to the television and a cigarette lighter, removed electrical appliances from the home because they were Âbugged, wore a t-shirt with aluminum foil taped to it because he was receiving signals from a tower, cut his friendÂs hand when the friend failed to say that orange was his favorite color, believed he was receiving secret messages from the television, fired a doctor when his family tried to seek help, refused to eat his motherÂs food because he believed she was poisoning him, separated a photograph of his mother and father, believed that women were Âgetting rid of the men, promised his nephew a thousand orange helicopters from his kingdom, believed he had a castle in Scotland, and believed he was an heir to the thrown. Deputy Carol Brown, RuffinÂs friend, was present during the standoff and testified that Ruffin said some unusual things and stated that he was declaring martial law. Witnesses described Ruffin as Âoff in left field, having Âlost his rocker, and in his Âown world.Â
          Ruffin testified that he first noticed a problem when he drove through town and saw that it was a Âhippy town painted in Âpsychedelic colors. He explained that people on television were talking to him and ridiculing him. He heard two voices in his head: one female and Christian, the other male and Muslim. The voices liked each other, but not Ruffin. He covered his head with aluminum foil to escape the voices. He believed that the colors blue and orange were a Âmafia plan. He recalled cutting his friendÂs hand. He believed that his mother murdered his father and brother and thought the Christian girls were killing the men. He asked the SheriffÂs Department for a badge because he believed he was the Âsupreme commander of the world.
On the night of the offense, Ruffin thought he was being hunted by Muslims. He had heard voices laughing at him and thought someone was stealing from him. When Brown called out to him, he told her to go away, accused her of trespassing, and fired some shots. At some point, he heard a helicopter and believed it was an Apache helicopter, with missiles, being flown by his sister. He thought Muslims were in the bushes, so he fired in the direction of the voices. He believed there were hundreds of Muslims. In the morning, he was surprised to see police vehicles in front of his house. After his arrest, Ruffin believed that the girls in the jail were Âwitches walking around with black teeth and laughing.
As the Court of Criminal Appeals noted, ÂThe testimony proffered by Dr. Carter in this case is clearly relevant to the issue of whether appellant intended to shoot at police officers during the standoff or whether, because of a mental disease and the delusions that he suffered as a result of that disease, he believed that he was shooting at Muslims or some other figment of his mind. Ruffin, 270 S.W.3d at 596. Because CarterÂs testimony was admissible to rebut the mens rea element of aggravated assault on a public servant, the inherent probative value of the evidence was great.
We are not persuaded that the probative value of this evidence is minimized by the lay testimony admitted at trial:
Although the trial judge permitted numerous lay witnesses, including appellant himself, to testify to Âobservational evidence concerning appellantÂs mental breakdown and delusions, that evidence was never put into a mental-disease context or its psychological significance explained.
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Ruffin, 270 S.W.3d at 596-97 (emphasis added). CarterÂs testimony was needed to perform this very function.
While the testimony would certainly be prejudicial to the StateÂs case, it would not be unfairly so in proportion to its probative value. See Vasquez v. State, 67 S.W.3d 229, 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (ÂTo violate Rule 403, it is not enough that the evidence is Âprejudicial - it must be unfairly prejudicial.Â). Rather than suggesting a decision on an improper basis, CarterÂs testimony would place the evidence of RuffinÂs mental state in the proper context and allow the jury to properly evaluate the probative force of the evidence. The evidence goes to the heart of the main issue in the case: whether Ruffin committed the charged offense. We cannot say that the jury would have been confused, distracted, or misled by this evidence. See Ruffin, 270 S.W.3d at 595 (Expressing Âconfidence that our Texas judges and juries are sufficiently sophisticated to evaluate expert mental-disease testimony in the context of rebutting mens rea just as they are in evaluating an insanity or mental-retardation claim.Â).
Finally, the record does not suggest that the testimony would cause Âundue delay or Âneedless presentation of cumulative evidence.  CarterÂs testimony is not cumulative of other testimony at trial. The bill of exception consumed approximately nineteen pages of the record, and CarterÂs testimony at the punishment phase of trial consumed about forty pages of the record.
In summary, the above factors favor admission of the evidence. The trial court abused its discretion by excluding RuffinÂs proffered expert testimony under Rule 403.Â
We now address whether Ruffin suffered harm as a result of the exclusion of his evidence. The State argues that harm should be evaluated for non-constitutional error. Citing Walters v. State, 247 S.W.3d 204 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007), Ruffin contends that harm should be evaluated for constitutional error:
The erroneous exclusion of evidence offered under the rules of evidence generally constitutes non-constitutional error and is reviewed under Rule 44.2(b).  The exception is when erroneously excluded evidence offered by the criminal defendant Âforms such a vital portion of the case that exclusion effectively precludes the defendant from presenting a defense.  Exclusion of evidence might rise to the level of a constitutional violation if: (1) a state evidentiary rule categorically and arbitrarily prohibits the defendant from offering otherwise relevant, reliable evidence vital to his defense; or (2) a trial courtÂs clearly erroneous ruling results in the exclusion of admissible evidence that forms the vital core of a defendantÂs theory of defense and effectively prevents him from presenting that defense.  In such a case, Rule 44.2(a), the standard for constitutional errors, would apply.
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Walters, 247 S.W.3d at 219 (emphasis added).
Texas does not recognize diminished capacity as an affirmative defense i.e., a lesser form of the defense of insanity.  Jackson v. State, 160 S.W.3d 568, 573 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). It is Âsimply a failure-of-proof defense in which the defendant claims that the State failed to prove that the defendant had the required state of mind at the time of the offense. Id. The standard for non-constitutional error applies. See Morales v. State, 32 S.W.3d 862, 866-67 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (remanding case to the First Court of Appeals to evaluate the exclusion of defendantÂs expert testimony for non-constitutional error).
 When evaluating harm from non-constitutional error flowing from the exclusion of relevant evidence, we examine the record as a whole, and if we are fairly assured that the error did not influence the jury or had but a slight effect, we conclude that the error was harmless.  Ray v. State, 178 S.W.3d 833, 836 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).  Any error must be disregarded unless it affected RuffinÂs substantial rights.  See Tex. R. App. P. 44.2(b).
The State argues that RuffinÂs substantial rights were not affected because he was able to present similar testimony from other witnesses, the record contains a wealth of evidence to support the verdict,[1] and the jury must have considered RuffinÂs diminished mental state, having assessed ten years in prison for each count.[2] Â
Whether Ruffin knew he was shooting at law enforcement officers was central to the case. The lay testimony of RuffinÂs mental state amounts to Âobservational evidence that was Ânever put into a mental-disease context or its psychological significance explained. Ruffin, 270 S.W.3d at 597. The jury did not have the opportunity to hear CarterÂs testimony, which was relevant to his failure-of-proof defense, and to evaluate its credibility in addition to other evidence presented at trial.Â
In Morales v. State, No. 01-99-00457-CR, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 3219 (Tex. App.ÂHouston [1st Dist.] May 17, 2001, no pet.) (not designated for publication), Morales was charged with felony driving while intoxicated. See Morales, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 3219, at *1. Morales called an acquaintance who testified that he and Morales had four or five beers several hours before the offense; thus, he did not believe that Morales was intoxicated. Id. at *7. Morales sought to introduce expert testimony to show that he Âwould not have been mentally or physically impaired because of the alcohol burn-off rate. Id. When conducting its harm analysis, the First Court noted that the sole issue at trial was whether Morales was driving while intoxicated. See id. at *9. MoralesÂs Âprimary defense was that he could not have been driving while intoxicated because such a long period of time had elapsed since his last drink. Id.  The expertÂs testimony would have Âsubstantially bolstered that defense. Id. at *9-10. Although the First Court did not believe that Morales would have been acquitted Âbut for the trial courtÂs error, it could not say with Âfair assurance that the excluded testimony would have had no effect, or but slight effect, on the juryÂs consideration of [MoralesÂs] defense. Id. at *10. Morales was harmed because the Âjury was not given an opportunity to hear testimony relevant to [his] defense and assess its credibility along with the other evidence in the case. Id.Â
As in Morales, we do not have a fair assurance that the exclusion of CarterÂs testimony did not influence the jury or had but a slight effect. Because we conclude that Ruffin was harmed by this error, we reverse the judgment and remand this cause to the
trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
  Â
FELIPE REYNA
Justice
Before Chief Justice Gray,
Justice Reyna, and
Justice Davis
(Chief Justice Gray dissenting with note)*
Reversed and remanded
Opinion delivered and filed September 23, 2009
Do not publish
[CRPM]
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*          (Chief Justice Gray dissents. A separate opinion will not issue. The admissibility of the evidence is dependent on a balancing test administered by the trial court and even if erroneously excluded must be harmful. Based on the precedent of this Court, I cannot conclude the trial court erred in his decision to exclude the evidence or that, if erroneous, the exclusion was harmful.)
          Â
[1] Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â On original submission, we noted several facts supporting the verdict: (1) Ruffin had known Brown for years, knew that she was a law enforcement officer, and acknowledged her on the night of the offense; (2) some officers had activated the overhead lights on their patrol cars at the time of their arrival at the scene; (3) the headlights of some patrol cars illuminated the law enforcement markings on other vehicles, as well as officers in uniform; and (4) at some point during the night, Ruffin fired shots at both the officers and a police helicopter. Â See Ruffin v. State, 234 S.W.3d 224, 227-28Â (Tex. App.ÂWaco 2007, pet. granted).
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[2]              Citing Peters v. State, 31 S.W.3d 704 (Tex. App.ÂHouston [1st Dist.] 2000, pet. refÂd) and Wilkerson v. State, 766 S.W.2d 795 (Tex. App.ÂTyler 1987, writ refÂd), Ruffin contends that exclusion of CarterÂs testimony was harmful. Because these cases involve testimony excluded at the punishment phase, they are not particularly helpful.