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Ex parte Smith

This is a subsequent post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus. The applicant claims that he is entitled to relief from his death sentence "because he presented significant mitigating evidence related to his moral culpability and the appropriateness of a death sentence that could not be given full effect by the sentencing jury." The trial court erred by not providing the jury a constitutionally adequate vehicle by which it could fully consider and give effect to the applicant's relevant evidence of poverty, a crime-ridden neighborhood, and drug addiction. Because the applicant was egregiously harmed by this error, the case is remanded to the trial court for new punishment proceedings. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, No. AP-76,035, 04-28-2010

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Womack, J., delivered the opinion of the unanimous Court.

This is a subsequent post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus. The applicant claims that he is entitled to relief from his death sentence “because he presented significant mitigating evidence related to his moral culpability and the appropriateness of a death sentence that could not be given full effect by the sentencing jury.” We find that the trial court erred by not providing the jury a constitutionally adequate vehicle by which it could fully consider and give effect to the applicant’s relevant evidence of poverty, a crime-ridden neighborhood, and drug addiction. We also find that the applicant was egregiously harmed by this error. We therefore remand to the trial court for new punishment proceedings.

I. Constitutional Background

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