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Alfred Carl King v. State
Citation: Not availableDocket: 02-05-00149-CR
Court: Court of Appeals of Texas; January 11, 2006; Texas; State Appellate Court
Alfred Carl King appealed the denial of his motion for DNA testing by the trial court in Tarrant County. The primary contention was that the trial court may have improperly considered King's guilty plea when ruling on the motion. However, the court affirmed the trial court's decision, stating that DNA testing can only be ordered if identity was or is a significant issue in the case. The court clarified that a guilty plea alone does not preclude a finding that identity was an issue; however, if the defendant admits to committing the crime, identity is not an issue regardless of a guilty plea. In this case, King had pleaded guilty to murder as part of a plea bargain and admitted to firing a gun that killed the victim. The trial court found that King's admissions indicated that identity was not in dispute, leading to the proper denial of the DNA testing motion. The appellate court overruled King's argument and affirmed the trial court's order. The decision was delivered on January 12, 2006, by a panel consisting of Chief Justice Cayce and Justices Walker and McCoy, and it was not published.