In Re SP

9 S.W.3d 304, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 8585, 1999 WL 1036584
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 17, 1999
Docket04-98-00894-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 9 S.W.3d 304 (In Re SP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re SP, 9 S.W.3d 304, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 8585, 1999 WL 1036584 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

9 S.W.3d 304 (1999)

In the Matter of S.P.

No. 04-98-00894-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, San Antonio.

November 17, 1999.

*306 Marsha Lynn Merrill, San Antonio, for Appellant.

Scott Roberts, Asst. Crim. Dist. Atty., San Antonio, for Appellee.

Sitting: CATHERINE STONE, Justice, SARAH B. DUNCAN, Justice, KAREN ANGELINI, Justice.

OPINION

Opinion by: KAREN ANGELINI, Justice.

Nature of the case

A jury found that S.P. had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of criminal mischief. The court assessed punishment at 19 months probation and placed S.P. outside of his home. In the first issue, S.P. alleges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. In the second issue, S.P. alleges that the court erred by failing to record all of the proceedings. In the third issue, S.P. asserts that the court erred in denying his motion for new trial. We affirm the judgment.

Factual Background

S.P. was found to have engaged in delinquent conduct by breaking two windows at an apartment. The resident of the apartment, Wanda Blanquyz, testified that the sound of shattered glass awoke her at approximately 4:00 a.m. Blanquyz woke her son who looked out of the window and observed four males carrying a barbecue grill and heading toward the apartment. The son recognized S.P. as one of the males because he had known S.P. from the neighborhood. The son went downstairs and watched the males ram the barbeque grill into the sliding door. The son observed S.P. again. When the police arrived, the males ran away but were apprehended in a nearby parking lot. The police brought Blanquyz's son to the parking lot where he identified S.P. and the others as the males he saw through his window.

Ineffective assistance

In his first issue, S.P. asserts that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, S.P. complains that his counsel: (1) failed to challenge for cause jurors who had been victims of criminal mischief; (2) elicited favorable testimony from State witnesses; (3) failed to effectively convey the defense theory of the case; (4) failed to seek postponement of the disposition hearing to obtain a current psychological report; and (5) waived allegation of jury misconduct during the motion for new trial hearing.

The right to assistance of counsel also includes the right to reasonably effective assistance of counsel. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). In assessing the effectiveness of counsel, we apply the two-part test set forth by the Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington. The test requires us to determine whether: (1) counsel's performance was deficient; and if so, (2) whether there is a reasonable probability that results would have been different but for counsel's deficient performance. Id. The appellant must overcome the presumption that his trial counsel's conduct might be considered to be sound trial strategy. Jackson v. State, 877 S.W.2d 768, 771 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel must be affirmatively demonstrated in the record. See McFarland v. State, 928 S.W.2d 482, 500 (Tex.Crim.App.1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1119, 117 S.Ct. 966, 136 L.Ed.2d 851 (1997). Further, we strongly presume that counsel's conduct lies within the "wide range of reasonable representation" and we examine the totality of the representation to determine the effectiveness of counsel. Id.

*307 Voir dire

S.P. contends that his counsel erred by failing to challenge for cause or use peremptory challenges on jurors nine and thirteen because they both had been vandalized by having windows broken. S.P. contends that allowing victims of similar crimes to sit on the jury amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel. Although jurors nine and thirteen had been the victims of similar crimes, they both testified that they could be fair and impartial in response to the State's individual voir dire questions. Because the jurors testified that they could be fair and impartial, no basis existed for a challenge for cause. See Bradley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 791, 804 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1997, pet. ref'd).

With regard to peremptory challenges, the State points out that many panel members had been the victims of vandalism and thus, counsel might have exercised his challenges on other panel members. Because there is no evidence in the record indicating why counsel chose not to make a peremptory challenge on jurors nine and thirteen, S.P. cannot demonstrate that failure to strike jurors nine and thirteen amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel.

Cross-examination

S.P. contends that his counsel elicited favorable testimony from the State's witnesses and failed to develop his theory of the case. While questioning Blanquyz during cross-examination, defense counsel asked Blanquyz if her son told the police that he knew who had broken the windows. Blanquyz answered that she believed he did because he had seen them through the window. S.P. contends that his counsel's question bolstered the son's credibility. S.P. also complains about the cross-examination of Officer Huron who responded to Blanquyz's 911 call. Defense counsel asked Officer Huron about how the call was dispatched and Officer Huron responded that it might have been dispatched as a burglary in action. S.P. contends that this testimony damaged his case. In order to show ineffectiveness, S.P. must overcome the presumption that counsel's cross-examination constituted trial strategy. See Valdes-Fuerte v. State, 892 S.W.2d 103, 111 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1994, no pet.). Further, S.P. must demonstrate how counsel's cross-examination prejudiced his defense. Because Blanquyz's testimony merely duplicated that of her son, we find that S.P.'s defense was not prejudiced and he has failed to overcome the presumption that the cross-examination constituted trial strategy. Further, S.P. has failed to demonstrate how Officer Huron's testimony prejudiced his defense.

S.P. also asserts that his attorney failed to develop the theory of the case. According to S.P., he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was one of many boys outside the apartment that night. On cross-examination, Blanquyz testified that after she heard the windows break, she looked outside her front window and saw many boys in front of the apartment. Thus, S.P.'s counsel elicited testimony concerning a large group of boys outside the apartment and was not ineffective for failing to develop the defense theory of the case.

Disposition

S.P. also alleges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at the disposition phase. The Strickland test also applies to claims of ineffectiveness at the punishment phase. See Hernandez v. State, 988 S.W.2d 770, 772 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999) (holding that Strickland applies to punishment phase and overruling Ex parte Duffy, 607 S.W.2d 507 (Tex.Crim.App. 1980)). S.P.

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Related

Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Vera v. State
868 S.W.2d 433 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Valdes-Fuerte v. State
892 S.W.2d 103 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Hines v. State
3 S.W.3d 618 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Soliz v. Saenz
779 S.W.2d 929 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Ex Parte Duffy
607 S.W.2d 507 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1980)
Sanders v. State
1 S.W.3d 885 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Jackson v. State
877 S.W.2d 768 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1994)
McFarland v. State
928 S.W.2d 482 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Hernandez v. State
988 S.W.2d 770 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Bradley v. State
960 S.W.2d 791 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Mitchell v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co.
955 S.W.2d 300 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
S.S. v. State
879 S.W.2d 395 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Matter of M.A.F.
966 S.W.2d 448 (Texas Supreme Court, 1998)
Matter of M.R.R.
2 S.W.3d 319 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
In re S.P.
9 S.W.3d 304 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)

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Bluebook (online)
9 S.W.3d 304, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 8585, 1999 WL 1036584, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sp-texapp-1999.