Randle Wilkerson v. State Texas

Appellant was convicted by a jury of murder pursuant to V.T.C.A. Penal Code Sec. 19.02 (a)(1) and punishment was assessed at sixty years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections. Appeal was taken to the First Court of Appeals sitting in Houston. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, holding, inter alia, that appellants "request for a second shuffle was not authorized under statutory or case law, and the trial court was entitled to conclude that the second shuffle would have unduly prolonged the trial." Wilkerson v. State, 670 S.W.2d 280, 1983 (Motion for Rehearing) 681 S.W.2d 29 (Tex.App. 1983). We granted Appellants Petition for Discretionary Review in order to determine whether appellants motion for a jury shuffle was timely made, and if so, whether the trial court was in error in refusing to grant same. We will reverse.