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Divided court merges 'legal,' 'factual' sufficiency standards of appellate review

Liberty and Justice for Y'all informs us of a potentially important and disappointing (sharply divided) decision in Brooks v. State from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which merges the standards for "factual" and "legal" sufficiency of evidence because, in the words of opinion author Judge Barbara Hervey, the two terms have become ?barely distinguishable.? LJ4Y, however, identifies the key distinction:What is the new merged legal/factual sufficiency standard you ask?  Well, it is simply the standard as laid out in Jackson - "a reviewing court is required to defer to a jury?s credibility and weight determinations."  No longer is there a factual sufficiency standard wherein the appellate court must view the evidence in a neutral light...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 10, 2010 (boomark / email).