Cantu, Robert Anthony, PD-0232-15

This is a criminal appeal from a two-count sexual assault case where the jury convicted on count II (digital penetration) and acquitted on count I (oral contact).
A.M. was 14 years old at the time and testified about the alleged assaults at the Cantu residence.
Two police detectives testified that they found A.M. credible, which the State later conceded was error.
There was little physical evidence supporting the charges, and the defense cross-examined A.M. extensively.
The trial court admitted the officers’ credibility testimony, the defense objected, and the jury returned a mixed verdict (guilty on count II, not guilty on count I).
On appeal, the Eighth Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the error harmless; this Court grants discretionary review to assess that ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the erroneous testimony about the victim’s credibility was harmless	Cantu contends the error was not harmless given lack of corroboration	State argues the error was harmless despite the absence of corroboration	Harmless error; conviction affirmed

Schutz v. State, 63 S.W.3d 442 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (admission of credibility testimony can be harmless when other evidence supports credibility)
Barshaw v. State, 342 S.W.3d 91 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011) (juror credibility instructions do not render improper bolster harmless in all cases)
Rhodes v. State, 308 S.W.3d 6 (Tex. App. – Eastland 2009) (harmless when other evidence supports credibility; acquittal on one count can show impact of error was not dispositive)
Arzaga v. State, 86 S.W.3d 767 (Tex. App. – El Paso 2002) (inadequate harmfulness assessment when jury had other evidence to assess credibility)