Legal Case

Trenton James Adams v. the State of Texas

Court

Court of Appeals of Texas

Decided

June 26, 2025

Jurisdiction

SA

Importance

44%

Significant

Practice Areas

Criminal Law
Mental Health Law

Case Summary

Court of Appeals Tenth Appellate District of Texas 10-24-00041-CR Trenton James Adams, Appellant v. The State of Texas, Appellee On appeal from the 443rd District Court of Ellis County, Texas Hon. Cynthia Ermatinger, presiding Trial Court Cause No. 47273CR JUSTICE SMITH delivered the opinion of the Court. MEMORANDUM OPINION A jury convicted Trenton James Adams of capital murder. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03(a)(2). The trial court assessed his punishment at life in prison without parole. In his sole issue on appeal, Adams contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for a jury charge instruction on the affirmative defense of insanity. We affirm. RELEVANT BACKGROUND Adams and his friend, Jordan von Hoffman, were remodeling a trailer in Ellis County, Texas where Adams planned to live with his girlfriend. In March of 2021, von Hoffman’s body was found in a shed behind the trailer, wrapped in a tarp and packed inside of a barrel. He had been hogtied and his clothes had been cut off of his body. The medical examiner determined von Hoffman’s cause of death to be homicidal violence through a combination of blunt force injuries and neck compression. Adams was charged with capital murder for intentionally causing von Hoffman’s death in the course of committing or attempting to commit the offense of kidnapping. See id. Prior to trial, Adams filed notice of his intent to raise the affirmative defense of insanity. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 46C.051. At the charge conference, the State objected to the inclusion of an insanity defense instruction in the jury charge.1 Defense counsel argued that the instruction should be included in the charge because evidence was presented that Adams had family history of mental illness, was prescribed medication for psychosis both before and after the offense, and was acting irrationally both before and after the offense. The trial court denied the requested instruction, finding that 1 It appears from the discussion on the record that a preliminary version of the charge was prepared prior to the charge conference that included an insanity defense instruction. A copy of this version of the charge is not in the record. Trenton James Adams v. The State of Texas Page 2 “there is no evidence in the record to even suggest that […] Trenton Adams did not know right from wrong at the time he committed the offense.” AUTHORITY “A defendant is entitled to an instruction on [a defensive issue] if the issue is raised by the evidence, whether that evidence is strong or weak, unimpeached or contradicted, and regardless of what the trial court may think about the credibility of the defense.” Ferrel v. State, 55 S.W.3d 586, 591 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001). We review a trial court’s decision not to include a defensive issue in the jury charge for an abuse of discretion and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the requested instruction. See Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103, 122 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Bufkin v. State, 207 S.W.3d 779, 782 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). The affirmative defense of insanity is found in Section 8.01 of the Texas Penal Code, which provides: It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the time of the conduct charged, the actor, as a result of severe mental disease or defect, did not know that his conduct was wrong. TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 8.01(a). The issue of a defendant’s insanity must be submitted to the jury only if the issue is supported by competent evidence. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 46C.151(a). Trenton James Adams v. The State of Texas Page 3 DISCUSSION The parties agree that the record contains some evidence that Adams suffered from a mental disease or defect. At trial, Adams called as witnesses several family members, one of his grandparents’ neighbors, and psychologist Dr. William Flynn in support of his insanity defense. Dr. Flynn did not personally interview Adams or perform an insanity evaluation on him, but he reviewed some of Adams’s medical records. Dr. Flynn testified that according to the medical records, Adams had been prescribed medication for psychosis in 2016 and 2017. After he arrived at the Ellis County Jail in July of 2021, Adams requested multiple times to see a doctor because he was having suicidal thoughts and hearing a voice called “James.” He was eventually diagnosed with unspecified anxiety disorder and schizoaffective disorder and was prescribed medication for psych

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Case Details

Case Details

Legal case information

Status

Decided

Date Decided

June 26, 2025

Jurisdiction

SA

Court Type

federal

Legal Significance

Case importance metrics

Importance Score
Significant
Score44%
Citations
0
Legal Topics
Capital Murder
Insanity Defense
Jury Instructions

Metadata

Additional information

AddedJun 27, 2025
UpdatedJun 27, 2025

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Legal Topics

Areas of law covered in this case

Capital Murder
Insanity Defense
Jury Instructions

Case Information

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Court Proceedings

Date FiledJune 26, 2025
Date DecidedJune 26, 2025

Document Details

Times Cited
0
Importance Score
0.4

Legal Classification

JurisdictionSA
Court Type
federal

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80% match
Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
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80% match
Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
Jun 2025

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