Atkinson v. State

In Atkinson v. State, 107 S.W.3d 856, 859-60 (Tex. App.--Dallas 2003, no pet.), the Court concluded that "without evidence to the contrary, we may assume the jury was not confused or misled by the charge and did not consider the possibility of good conduct time when assessing appellant's punishment." In Atkinson, the jury charge specifically instructed the jury that, although a defendant may earn good conduct time, it could not be predicted how it might apply to appellant; therefore, the jurors were not to consider how good conduct time might affect appellant's sentence. See id.