John Chambers v. Texas

Whether the Court of Appeals violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by making an unforeseeable and retroactive judicial expansion of the Texas Tampering With a Governmental Record statute.

The Texas Tampering with a Governmental Record Statute contains a statutory defense to prosecution that requires acquittal if the false entry could have no effect on the government’s purpose for requiring the record. As a matter of law, the government had no legal right to or purpose for the records at issue. By concluding that the evidence was nevertheless legally sufficient, the did the Court of Appeals violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by impermissibly shifting the burden of proof on an essential element of the defense to the accused?