Woods v. State

In her sole issue, appellant complains about the exclusion of evidence of her mental health during the guilt/innocence phase of the trial.The evidence excluded in this case does not explain the psychological significance of the observational evidence admitted at trial. Thus, the trial court could have determined that the proffered evidence did not have a tendency to make the determination that appellant's conduct was intentional or knowing less probable than it would be without the evidence. Beaumont Court of Appeals, No. 09-08-00259-CR, 02-17-2010

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OPINION

Tarsha Delavette Woods appeals her conviction by a jury for the offense of aggravated assault against a public servant. The jury also found that Woods used a motor vehicle as a deadly weapon in the commission of the offense. The jury assessed her punishment at seven years of confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, and a fine of $5,000. The jury recommended that the confinement portion of the sentence be suspended. The trial court placed Woods on community supervision for seven years. In her sole issue, Woods complains about the exclusion of evidence of her mental health during the guilt innocence phase of the trial.

On December 2, 2002, Woods drove a motor vehicle on U.S. Highway 59 at speeds in excess of one hundred miles per hour. After clocking Woods driving 111 miles per hour in a sixty-five mile-per-hour zone, a Texas Highway Patrol trooper pursued Woods through Liberty County and San Jacinto County. Woods drove over spike strips as she entered Polk County but continued to drive approximately seventy-five miles per hour as the tires deflated. The complainant, Dana Piper, a Polk County deputy sheriff, pulled his patrol vehicle next to Woods’s vehicle. Woods sideswiped the deputy’s vehicle and continued driving on the highway. Piper used his vehicle to form a “rolling roadblock” with other law enforcement vehicles. Several patrol vehicles took positions ahead of Woods’s vehicle and slowed down. During this maneuver, Woods struck Piper’s vehicle several times, injuring him in the process. Wood’s vehicle eventually stopped and the officers removed her from the vehicle. Woods struggled with the officers. She wore no clothing. The arresting officer testified that Woods asked if she could sing hymns and that she did sing hymns while being transported to the jail.

Woods v. State

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