Alvin Peter Henry, Jr. v. State, 06-14-00130-CR

Appellant Alvin Peter Henry, Jr. appealed his conviction; this document is his motion for rehearing after the Sixth Court of Appeals affirmed.
Henry argued the trial court denied him the right to present evidence of diminished capacity at guilt/innocence and refused his requested jury instruction on that issue.
Psychologist and family testimony indicated Henry had severe cognitive/functional limitations, auditory hallucinations, stopped antipsychotic medication before the offense, and limited literacy/math skills.
The trial court excluded or limited presentation of diminished-capacity evidence at guilt/innocence and declined the requested instruction; the appeals court upheld those rulings.
At punishment, the State relied on prior convictions/extraneous offenses; appellant’s counsel stipulated to certified judgments but Henry later pleaded “Not True,” disputing identity-to-prior-convictions proof.
Henry argues the State failed to prove he was the same person convicted in the prior judgments used for enhancement and extraneous-offense impeachment, so the punishment finding should be vacated or remanded.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Henry)	Held
1. Trial court abused discretion by excluding diminished-capacity evidence at guilt/innocence	Evidence did not directly negate mens rea or was potentially confusing; exclusion proper	Psychologist and lay testimony showed impaired capacity and should have been admitted to negate mens rea	Court affirmed trial court (no abuse)
2. Trial court erred by refusing appellant's requested jury charge on diminished capacity	Instruction unnecessary because defense evidence insufficient to raise defensive issue	A prima facie showing existed; trial court must give charge on any defensive issue raised by evidence	Court affirmed (no instructional error)
3. Sufficiency of proof that Henry was same person convicted in prior offenses used for enhancement	Certified judgments and stipulation by defense counsel established prior convictions	Henry later pled "Not True"; stipulation did not prove identity—State needed to prove identity beyond incarceration testimony	Court found evidence sufficient to prove identity (affirmed)
4. Sufficiency of proof that Henry was same person for extraneous-offense use	Same as Issue 3; certified documents and testimony suffice	State failed to prove person-on-trial is same person in judgments when appellant denied truth	Court found evidence sufficient (affirmed)

Jackson v. State, 160 S.W.3d 568 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (evidence of mental illness may be relevant to negate mens rea)
Ruffin v. State, 270 S.W.3d 586 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (diminished-capacity evidence may negate culpable mental state if admissible)
Mays v. State, 318 S.W.3d 368 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (court need not give charge where mental-illness evidence does not directly rebut mens rea)
Krajcovic v. State, 393 S.W.3d 282 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (trial court must submit a defensive issue when evidence raises it)
Shaw v. State, 243 S.W.3d 647 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (prima facie evidentiary standard for raising defensive issue)
Smith v. State, 314 S.W.3d 576 (Tex. App.–Texarkana 2010) (Texas does not recognize diminished capacity as an affirmative defense)
Reyes v. State, 394 S.W.3d 809 (Tex. App.–Amarillo 2013) (discusses proof required to show accused is same person in prior judgments)
Prihada v. State, 352 S.W.3d 796 (Tex. App.–San Antonio 2011) (addresses identity proof for use of certified prior convictions)