Robert Lynn Pridgen v. State ( 2015 )


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  •                                                                                           ACCEPTED
    12-13-00136-CR
    TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS
    TYLER, TEXAS
    1/20/2015 8:20:20 AM
    CATHY LUSK
    CLERK
    No. 12-13-00136-CR
    ROBERT LYNN PRIDGEN,             §     IN THE TWELFTH COURT   FILED IN
    §                     12th COURT OF APPEALS
    TYLER, TEXAS
    Appellant,                 §                     1/20/2015 8:20:20 AM
    §     OF APPEALS           CATHY S. LUSK
    vs.                              §                              Clerk
    §
    THE STATE OF TEXAS               §     TYLER, TEXAS
    ________________________________________________________________________
    APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
    ________________________________________________________________________
    Respectfully, the Court’s decisional analysis falls short in three critical
    respects:
    • It applies a constitutionally deficient standard of review.
    • It misapplies the substantive elements of self-defense.
    • And it gets the admission-of-evidence analysis wrong.
    Any one of these errors should require a rehearing. Together, they simply
    leave no choice but to rehear the case.
    I.      The Court has applied a constitutionally deficient standard of
    review.
    The Court’s expression of the no-reasonable doubt standard is correct.
    But in the context of this case, that serves only as window dressing. While
    announcing that murder must be proved and self-defense rejected beyond all
    reasonable doubt – i.e., to a near-certainty – the Court actually has applied a
    “no evidence” standard, which is prohibited by the Constitution and the U.S.
    Supreme Court in criminal cases. In practice, the Court searched only for a
    scintilla or mere modicum of incriminating evidence and, on finding such
    proof, called it a day.
    This – the Court’s application of a constitutionally infirm standard of
    review – is no mere technicality. The proof here misses the required mark
    (i.e., the no-reasonable-doubt standard) so widely that we can negate the
    State’s necessary showing by considering a single fact: Rohne was found
    clutching a knife.
    The scientific proof about the knife – the only probative evidence
    respecting the knife – was that it was equally probable that Rohne wielded
    the knife as that he didn’t. See RR12:224 (Pathologist “I wouldn’t even
    speculate.”). The responding officers’ comments (about a so-called death grip,
    etc.) were pure surmise, eliminated as nonsense by the pathologist.
    RR12:224. Those comments thus are non-probative under established
    evidentiary principles precluding bald speculation.
    If Rohne held a knife, the case for murder crumbles, regardless how the
    Court might analyze the other facts. The knife’s presence in Rohne’s hand
    looms too large. The State has not even suggested that murder could be
    sustained if Rohne wielded the knife. The remaining items of the State’s
    “evidence” (such as the lack of signs of a struggle) either are so flimsy as to be
    either utterly incapable of sustaining any inference in the State’s favor or, in
    2
    the case of the few items that will sustain some sort of favorable inference,
    will sustain only the weakest sort of inference. See infra. In these
    circumstances, the unresolvable uncertainty surrounding the knife simply
    swamps any possibility that the State’s case eliminated the reasonable doubt
    against murder. The abject uncertainty about Rhone’s use of the knife means
    the case for murder can really be no more probable than the case for self
    defense. No rational jury apprised by the pathologist of the probabilities
    respecting Rohne’s use of the knife could find murder beyond all reasonable
    doubt.
    A.    The Court’s favored items of proof did not come close to
    eliminating reasonable doubt.
    The Court listed nine items of evidence that “permit[ed] a rational jury
    to conclude that deadly force was not immediately necessary,” slip op. at 8:
    1.    Bruises on Rohne
    2.    Lack of signs of struggle
    3.    Rhone and Pridgen were intoxicated
    4.    911 call
    5.    Absence of prior confrontations
    6.    Rohne’s mellow demeanor
    7.    Weapon discharged at elevated position
    8.    Rohne’s position on loveseat with ankles crossed
    9.    Pridgen’s testimony he thought only of Rohne and the knife
    While an appellate court must presume that the trier of fact resolved
    any conflicting inferences in favor of the prosecution, 
    Jackson, 443 U.S. at 326
    , it isn’t within the jury’s province to speculate its way into a criminal
    3
    conviction. Neither the Constitution nor the Supreme Court endorses such
    methods. And yet any attempt to rationalize a murder verdict in this case
    hinges on speculation that the knife was planted – by the same drunk who
    made the bizarre 911 call the Court quotes.
    Worse, what this Court sees as conflicting inferences in the evidence
    are not conflicting at all. Most of the items the Court cites just are not
    probative and thus are incapable of sustaining any inference of murder. And
    not one of these nine items rationally contradicts self-defense.
    Evidence        Supposition                   Rational Test
    Non-Probative Evidence Equally Consistent with Murder or Self-Defense, and
    Therefore Incapable of Supporting Reasonable Inference of Murder
    Bruises on      That Pridgen      Ÿ Contradicted by science. The
    Rohne           assaulted him     pathologist rejected the bruises as proof
    of Pridgen assault. RR12:216.
    Ÿ The pathologist said the bruises
    could have existed for minutes or
    hours before the shot. RR12:215-16.
    Ÿ Rohne was tall, heavy, and .33 alcohol
    drunk. More logical he stumbled and hit
    the floor or cabinet.
    Ÿ Pridgen had no bruises himself. It is
    implausible that the smaller, weaker,
    sicker man inflicted bruises on the larger,
    stronger, younger man.
    4
    Evidence       Supposition                     Rational Test
    Lack of signs of That Pridgen      Ÿ The logical conclusion is that Pridgen
    struggle         assaulted him     did not strike Rohne, there was no
    struggle and Rohne attempted to seduce
    Pridgen.
    Ÿ The Court ignored the officer’s
    testimony that a man with a knife could
    stab a victim quickly unless victim acted
    fast. RR13:50-51.
    Rhone and        In a stupor,      Ÿ Why would Pridgen, in his own home,
    Pridgen were     Pridgen decided   shoot a long time friend paying him rent,
    intoxicated      to murder his     drunk or not?
    friend
    Ÿ The logical conclusion is that something
    unexpected occurred, increasing the vital
    need for Rohne’s photos to explain why.
    911 Call         Pridgen’s         Ÿ The 911 call is a neutral event. Pridgen
    callousness       was drunk and in shock, equally logical
    shows lack of     whether a murder or self-defense.
    remorse
    Ÿ Really, that he called 911 logically tilts
    toward self-defense because (1) he did not
    flee, (2) reconstruct the scene, (3) hide or
    rearrange the body, or (4) plant a gun.
    Absence of       That Rohne did    Ÿ Proof that something astonishing must
    prior            not pull knife    have occurred to justify a shooting.
    confrontations
    Ÿ Additional reason why photos were
    vital to show why Rohne acted.
    5
    Probative, Albeit Weak, Evidence Such That a Rational Jury
    Could Infer Murder, Although the Jury Need Not
    Rohne’s          That Rohne was Ÿ By science. Pathologist confirmed that
    position on      sitting when       if Rohne was attempting to stand with a
    loveseat with    shot               knife, and was shot by a shorter man,
    ankles crossed                      gravity and the blast could have pushed
    Rohne back down into the seat,
    RR12:239-40, precisely what Pridgen
    said occurred, RR14:95-96, 119, 121-22.
    Ÿ Police officer agreed. RR12:189.
    Ÿ Pathologist explained alcohol’s
    destruction of fine motor skills and the
    ability to walk. RR12:223; also officer:
    12:180-81. That Rohne stumbled,
    tripped or crossed his feet is
    predictable.
    Pridgen’s         That Pridgen      Ÿ The knife alone was sufficient to shoot
    testimony he      shot Rohne only   Rohne.
    thought only of   because he had
    Rohne and the     a large knife,    Ÿ Further reason for the photos. Pridgen
    knife, not rape   not for fear of did not know at the time of Rohne’s
    rape            secret desires. He did know his larger,
    younger stronger friend had a knife and
    was reaching for him. He did not know
    why. But now we do.
    Weapon            That Pridgen    Ÿ Pridgen, who admitted standing, never
    discharged at     was standing    contended that Rohne was fully standing
    elevated          while Rohne was when shot. Rohne was rising with knife,
    position          sitting         consistent with self-defense.
    Ÿ The knife is the reason for self-defense.
    6
    Rohne’s mellow That Rohne did        Ÿ Again, the Court ignored the knife.
    demeanor       not pull knife on     What is this mellow man doing with a 16-
    Pridgen or seek       ounce knife? And mellow people kill
    to rape               every day.
    Ÿ The government’s assertion of Rohne’s
    phlegmatic personality is further reason
    why jurors needed to see his photos.
    Even if these items could establish a modicum of proof that, taken in
    hindsight, deadly force was not necessary, there is nothing approaching proof
    beyond a reasonable doubt that Pridgen did not in fact reasonably believe
    such force was necessary when he pulled the trigger.
    Here, it bears restating: Pridgen’s reasonable belief that force was
    necessary can’t be disproved beyond all reasonable doubt if there was a knife.
    The only credible evidence respecting the knife (and thus the only proof the
    jury could credit in its deliberation) shows the presence of a knife was equally
    probable with its absence. And this means no rational fact-finder could
    conclude that murder was proved beyond all reasonable doubt, even upon
    considering every other fact but the knife in the light most favoring the State.
    7
    B.    The Court’s analysis ignores undisputed facts inconsistent
    with murder.
    This Court ignored the following seven items of incontestable fact:
    Evidence                             Proof of Self-Defense
    The knife            Ÿ Officers testified the one-pound knife is a deadly
    weapon. RR13:42.
    Ÿ Only 2 possibilities exist, and they are equally
    probable: (1) Pridgen planted the knife, for which no
    proof exists, or (2) Rohne had the knife, and Pridgen had
    the right to shoot him.
    Pridgen’s home       Ÿ The shooting was not in a honky-tonk. It was inside
    Pridgen’s home, where he had every entitlement to self-
    protection.
    Ÿ Logically, it is implausible he would plot murder in his
    home, without any motive, but highly likely he would
    defend himself given a knife threat.
    The difference in    Ÿ Pridgen was 55, shorter (5’ 8”), and suffering from
    size, age and        chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, RR14:38.
    condition of the
    two men              Ÿ Rohne was 15 years younger, 8 inches taller, and 90 lbs
    heavier. SX53, 63; RR14:38, 50.
    Ÿ It is impossible that Pridgen inflicted bruises on Rohne
    while receiving none, without disturbing the room.
    Ÿ But it does explain why Rohne selected Pridgen as a
    victim.
    Pridgen’s prison     Ÿ Police verified that officers are trained to fire center of
    guard training       the chest of knife attacker within 21 feet (now 27-feet)
    because attacker at close range can stab faster than
    officer can fire. RR13:43-44, 46-47, 50-51;12:191-92.
    Pridgen, a former prison guard, is similarly trained and
    acted instantly to the threat, firing center mass. His
    instinctive reaction to fire tends to support that he faced
    a real threat by a knife.
    8
    Evidence                         Proof of Self-Defense
    Officer’s testimony   Ÿ The government supplied a officer as an
    that shooting in      uncontroverted expert who confirmed shooting under
    response to knife     these circumstances is self-defense. RR13:46-47; 50-51.
    wielder within 21     No reasonable juror can set aside that testimony
    feet is appropriate   without reason, and none exists.
    self-defense
    Rohne changed to      Ÿ Proof of his intent.
    shorts which he
    unfastened            Ÿ Further demonstration of Pridgen’s need for the photos
    to show why.
    The government’s      Ÿ In the absence of the photos, it is impossible for any
    weak attempt at       rational person to believe a homeowner killed an easily
    motive – to expel a   evicted month-to-month tenant.
    renter
    Ÿ With the photos, it is rational to believe a homeowner
    would shoot a larger, younger man attempting actual or
    simulated rape.
    This Court must consider these facts if it is going to conduct a
    sufficiency review consistent with the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.
    The Court’s refusal to consider them proves the Court applied a “scintilla” or
    “mere modicum” test: having found 9 items it believes supply a modicum of
    guilt evidence, the Court saw no point in examining any other record facts, no
    matter how strongly they might point away from murder. Such analysis is
    constitutionally wrong. “A ‘mere modicum’ of incriminating evidence cannot
    ‘by itself rationally support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.’” 
    Jackson, 443 U.S. at 320
    (citation omitted) (emphasis added); accord Brooks v. State,
    
    323 S.W.3d 893
    , 916 & n.20 (Tex. 2010) (Cochran, J., concurring) (Agreeing
    because, “Under a ‘no evidence’ standard, a reviewing court would affirm the
    9
    judgment if any evidence supported the conviction.”) (emphasis added)
    (Precisely what this Court did).
    The Court’s limited review of cherry-picked evidence, the kind of ‘no-
    evidence’ review afforded in civil cases, is precisely barred in this criminal
    suit. “[A] person accused of a crime . . . would be at a severe disadvantage, a
    disadvantage amounting to a lack of fundamental fairness, if he could be
    adjudged guilty and imprisoned for years on the strength of the same
    evidence as would suffice in a civil case.” In re Winship, 
    397 U.S. 358
    , 363
    (1970) (citation omitted) (emphasis added).
    C.    The murder verdict              cannot   withstand      a    proper
    evidentiary review.
    Application of the correct beyond-reasonable-doubt standard in
    Pridgen’s case is not a rhetorical exercise: he will win his freedom if the Court
    rigorously applies the standard. In Jackson the Supreme Court upended
    decades of case law to impose the beyond a reasonable doubt safeguard for a
    clear imperative: to protect innocent people like Pridgen from conviction. As
    that court explained, the reasonable-doubt standard “is a prime instrument
    for reducing the risk of convictions resting on factual error” and “provides
    concrete substance for the presumption of innocence [which] . . . lies at the
    foundation of the administration of our criminal law.’” In re Winship, 
    397 U.S. 358
    , 363 (1970) (citation omitted); Jackson v. 
    Virginia, 443 U.S. at 315
    .
    10
    Pridgen should be acquitted on this record. And if a Texas jury had
    seen Rohne’s photographs, Pridgen would have walked from the courtroom.
    II.   The Court has not applied the correct substantive law of self
    defense.
    When it comes to the matter of self-defense, the Court hasn’t even
    gotten the substantive elements right. The nub of the Court’s analysis, on
    page eight of its slip opinion, is that certain items of cherry-picked proof
    “permit[] a rational jury to conclude that deadly force was not immediately
    necessary to protect Appellant from Rohne’s alleged use or attempted use of
    unlawful deadly force.” Slip op. at 8. Respectfully, the question, as concerns
    self-defense, is not whether a jury could in hindsight conclude that deadly
    force was unnecessary, as the Court says. 
    Id. It is
    instead whether a jury
    rationally could conclude that Pridgen – clearly drunk and reacting in real
    time – could not have formed a reasonable belief that deadly force was
    necessary, see TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 9.32, and, further, could conclude
    that this conclusion was established so soundly as to exist beyond any
    reasonable doubt, to the point of near certainty. Jackson v. Virginia, 
    443 U.S. 307
    , 319 (1979) (“[B]y impressing upon the factfinder the need to reach a
    subjective state of near certitude of the guilt of the accused, the standard
    symbolizes the significance that our society attaches to the criminal
    sanction”).
    11
    The question, as respects self defense under Penal Code Section 9.32, is
    what Pridgen himself, in the critical instant and faced with the particular
    circumstances, might reasonably have believed, when he pulled the trigger.
    TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §9.32(a). This statute imposes a clearly subjective
    standard for self defense under which deadly force is justified “when and to
    the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately
    necessary . . . to prevent the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly
    force” or “to prevent the other’s imminent commission of . . . murder, sexual
    assault, [or] aggravated sexual assault . . .”). 
    Id. Under this
    statute, the
    Court’s substitute analysis – which asks whether a detached observer, in the
    calm and clarity of hindsight, could “conclude that deadly force [in fact] was
    not immediately necessary,” slip op. at 8, is utterly beside the point. And, as
    stated, for the jury to have validly rejected self-defense the State’s proof must
    have gone far, far beyond merely “permit[ting] a rational jury to conclude”
    that Pridgen lacked the necessary belief. Rather, that proof must have been
    so strong that a jury rationally could say it eradicated any reasonable doubt
    at all as to whether Pridgen, already drunk and suddenly confronted, could
    have reasonably believed his use of force was necessary when he fired.
    12
    III.   This Court’s dismissal of Rohne’s photographs conflicts with a
    proper relevance analysis.
    “A defendant has a fundamental right to present evidence of a
    defense as long as the evidence is relevant and is not excluded by
    an established evidentiary rule.”
    Miller v. State, 
    36 S.W.3d 503
    , 507 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001)
    This Court rejected all the photographs taken by Rohne of himself and
    offered by Pridgen to prove his statutory defense, solely on relevance
    grounds. Respectfully, that evidence is relevant under Rules 401 and 402 and
    thus constitutionally admissible because it is (1) material and (2) probative
    toward a statutorily authorized defense.
    Evidence in a criminal trial is “relevant” if it has “any tendency to
    make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of
    the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the
    evidence.” TEX. R. CR. EVID. 401. “All relevant evidence is admissible, except
    as otherwise provided by . . . these rules . . . . Evidence which is not relevant
    is inadmissible.” TEX. R. CR. EVID. 402.
    A. The photos are material            to   Pridgen’s    statutorily
    authorized defense.
    “The photographs, I’ll concede, there are some images of sexual
    violence. We are dealing with bondage and S&M nature, where
    people are in a superior position and an inferior position, where
    someone was being sometimes violently abused, and someone was
    receiving that violent abuse.”
    --- Prosecutor, RR2:11-12.
    13
    For evidence to be material it “must be shown to be addressed to the
    proof of a material proposition, i.e., ‘any fact that is of consequence to the
    determination of the action.’” 
    Miller, 36 S.W.3d at 507
    . The photos of Rohne
    role-playing sexual fantasies directly addressed the statutory defense jurors
    were charged to decide: “[a] person is justified in using deadly force . . . to
    prevent the other’s imminent . . . sexual assault or aggravated sexual
    assault.” Jury Charge, CR152-53. The government conceded the violent
    relevance at trial. RR2:11-12. The photos counter the government’s
    contention that Pridgen fired to evict a tenant, and to answer the prosecutor’s
    rhetorical question to jurors: “And who knows what went on that night?”
    RR15:62-63. The State’s counter arguments alone can make evidence Rule
    401 relevant. See Cooper v. State, 
    95 S.W.3d 488
    , 491 (Tex. App. --- Houston
    [1st Dist.] 2002, no pet.). And, of course, the photos are vitally necessary to
    rebut the government’s cries that Pridgen planted the knife.
    B. The photos are probative of self-defense.
    To be probative, “the proffered evidence must tend to make the
    existence of the fact ‘more or less probable than it would be without the
    evidence.’” 
    Miller, 36 S.W.3d at 507
    . So what facts are made more or less
    probable by the photos?
    14
    • That the lack of signs of struggle verify Rohne’s attempt to
    seduce or rape Pridgen.
    • That Rohne in fact had a knife.
    • That Rohne in fact grabbed Pridgen’s genitals.
    • That despite his otherwise mellow disposition, Rohne was
    capable of and possessed intent to commit sexual assault.
    • That Rohne in fact whispered ““Don’t get up. Just relax and
    enjoy the pleasure.”
    • That Rohne in fact picked up a large knife to enforce his lust.
    • That Rohne intended or simulated rape, or alternatively
    violence, with one man as submissive, the other dominant.
    • That Rohne’s bruises, whatever their source, had nothing to do
    with his advances on Pridgen or were self-inflicted using his
    sex toys (recall his chains and clamps).
    • That Rohne and Pridgen’s lack of prior confrontation is
    consistent and explained with the secret and threatening
    activities Rohne knew of but Pridgen did not.
    C. The photographs speak loudly for themselves and 12
    citizen jurors should be permitted to listen.
    This Court’s frankly astonishing assertion that, “There are no images
    contained in Defense exhibits 1 through 27 that show Rohne acting as an
    aggressor or engaging in homosexual conduct,” slip op. at 10, cannot be
    reconciled with the images. First, whether Rohne is homosexual is beside the
    point. Is this Court declaring that for one man to rape another, he must first
    be proved to be homosexual? Who is to say that Rohne did not see this
    encounter with Pridgen as a fresh opportunity to branch out from female
    15
    prostitutes to male participants? What rational distinction can (or should) be
    made between simulated violence against women and men, censuring the
    one, and sanctioning the other?
    Remarkably, this Court has erected an artificial barrier to sexual
    assault evidence: the evidence must be of a homosexual nature when the
    victim and perpetrator are of the same gender. This is not only wrong, but is
    a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See
    Craig v. Boren, 
    429 U.S. 190
    (1976).
    Second, as the government conceded, RR12:11-12, the photos do show
    Rohne as an aggressor:
    • 7 photos following page 28 of Pridgen’s brief show Rohne inflicted
    pain on himself with a genital clamp (proof his bruises may be
    self-inflicted);
    • 2 photos following page 29, and 1 following page 28, show that
    Rohne not only hired prostitutes, but supplied (or rented)
    restraint devices to simulate bondage and pain. Is payment to
    women to role-play in this manner not an aggressive act?
    • The photos following pages 31 (DX7) and 32 (DX12) display rope,
    penis clamps, handcuffs and chains --- designed to inflict pain
    and recognized as deadly weapons --- similar to a knife. See Hill
    v. State, 
    913 S.W.2d 581
    , 583 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (chain is
    deadly weapon); Castro v. State, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 704, 7
    (Tex. App. --- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 26, 2006, no pet.) (rope is
    deadly weapon); Smith v. State, 
    186 N.C. App. 57
    (N.C. App.
    2007) (handcuffs as deadly weapon). Rohne simply kept the knife
    elsewhere in the house.
    16
    D. The Court arrogated an impermissible fact-weighing
    and credibility assessment --- a role assigned to
    Pridgen’s jurors.
    The Court wrote, “Appellant testified that he shot Rohne because he ―
    ‘was in fear of his life and thought Rhone was going to kill him.’ But as the
    sole judge of witness credibility and the weight to be given their testimony,
    the jury was free to disbelieve Appellant’s contention that he feared for his
    life.” Slip op. at 8.
    We heartily agree. The problem is that this Court is withholding from
    the jurors an entire class of evidence necessary for them to decide whether
    Pridgen in fact “feared for his life.” Why did Rohne sit next to him on a
    loveseat with shorts unfastened? Did Rhone in fact reach for his genitals? Did
    Rhone in fact whisper in his ear? The photos were critical to that “witness
    credibility” and “weight” determination assessment.
    Respectfully, and counter to this Court’s conservative credentials, this
    Court has decided to act as a thirteenth juror and decide the fact question
    itself, and this is wrong. 
    Brooks, 323 S.W.3d at 911
    ; see also Eaves v. State,
    
    141 S.W.3d 686
    , 693-94 (Tex. App. -- Texarkana 2004, pet. ref’d) (“The court’s
    reasoning does not go to the admissibility of the evidence, but to its
    believability, or the weight that jurors might place on such testimony. That is
    a call to be made not by the trial court, but by the fact-finder.”); accord
    United States v. McClure, 
    546 F.2d 670
    , 673 (5th Cir. 1977) (“a jury could not
    17
    properly convict him absent the opportunity to hear the proffered testimony
    bearing upon the theory of defense and weigh its credibility along with the
    other evidence in the case.”); Miller v. State, 
    36 S.W.3d 503
    , 508 (Tex. Crim.
    App. 2001) (“A rational jury could find that this evidence helps to prove that
    appellant was under a constant state of duress from Magee when she
    delivered the cocaine, that this duress caused her to fear for her safety, and
    that her fear was reasonable.”).
    “[T]he Constitution guarantees criminal defendants ‘a meaningful
    opportunity to present a complete defense.’” Crane v. Kentucky, 
    476 U.S. 683
    ,
    690 (1986). As the Court of Criminal Appeals explained in Miller, exclusions
    of evidence under Rules 401 and 402 implicate the Due Process and
    Confrontation Clauses of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. See 
    Miller, 36 S.W.3d at 506
    (these rights “basic in our system of jurisprudence”). By
    dismissing the photographs of Rohne on mere relevance grounds and refusing
    retrial, this Court has violated Pridgen’s right to present a complete defense,
    in contravention of Holmes v. South Carolina, 
    547 U.S. 319
    (2006), and the
    Due Process and Confrontation Clauses of the Sixth and Fourteenth
    Amendments. See California v. Trombetta, 
    467 U.S. 479
    , 485 (1984);
    Washington v. Texas, 
    388 U.S. 14
    (1967) (right to present complete defense
    that another committed the crime violated); Chambers v. Mississippi, 
    410 U.S. 284
    , 302-303 (1973) (same). “The Constitutional right of confrontation is
    18
    violated when appropriate cross-examination is limited.” Carroll v. State, 
    916 S.W.2d 494
    , 497 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); accord Evans v. State, 
    519 S.W.2d 868
    , 873 (Tex. Crim. App. 1975) (defendants were denied effective cross-
    examination when prohibited from cross-examining a state’s witness about
    pending charge).
    CONCLUSION
    A citizen with no criminal record, former prison official, shot a
    transsexual who pulled a knife on him in his own home with plans for
    simulated or actual rape. Every rational Texan would say this is fair reason
    for self-defense. When jurors see the photos they will acquit Pridgen. This
    Court --- which asserts its conservative credentials --- should not stand in the
    way of the most important right we have, to have accusations decided by a
    jury of peers with full presentation of evidence. The Court should acquit or
    remand for trial.
    Respectfully submitted this 20 of January 2015,
    /s/ James W. Volberding
    By: ____________________________
    JAMES W. VOLBERDING
    SBN: 00786313
    100 E. Ferguson Street
    Suite 500
    Tyler, Texas 75702
    (903) 597-6622
    (866) 398-6883 (Fax)
    e-mail: jamesvolberding@gmail.com
    19
    Attorney for Appellant,
    Mr. Robert Lynn Pridgen
    CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
    I certify that this document is written in 13-point font and contains
    4,083 words, as measured from the first sentence of the motion through the
    Conclusion.
    /s/ James W. Volberding
    ____________________________
    James W. Volberding
    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
    I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of this pleading has been
    delivered this 20 day of January 2015 to:
    Anderson Co. District Attorney
    Courthouse
    500 North Church Street
    Palestine, TX 75801
    by the following means:
    _____        By U.S. Postal Service Certified Mail, R.R.R.
    _____        By First Class U.S. Mail
    _____        By Special Courier _______________________
    _____        By Hand Delivery
    __X__        By Fax before 5 p.m. to (903) 723-7818
    _____        By Fax after 5 p.m.
    _____        By email.               /s/ James W. Volberding
    ____________________________
    JAMES W. VOLBERDING
    20