LaDonna Lynn Welch v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided January 31, 2019·No. 02-17-00413-CR·Published

Opinion

In the

Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth

No. 02-17-00413-CR

LADONNA LYNN WELCH, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the 355th District Court Hood County, Texas

Trial Court No. CR13545

Before Kerr, Pittman, and Bassel, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Bassel

MEMORANDUM OPINION

I. INTRODUCTION

After a car wreck in which she struck and killed a motorcyclist, Appellant LaDonna Lynn Welch pleaded guilty to the offense of intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 49.08. A jury assessed Welch’s punishment at 20 years’ confinement, and the trial court sentenced her accordingly.

In one issue, Welch argues that her conviction should be reversed and her case remanded for a new punishment hearing because her trial counsel’s performance was so deficient that she failed to receive effective assistance of counsel. She chronicles seven specific ways she believes her counsel’s assistance was deficient:

1. He failed to offer evidence to prove that Welch was eligible for community supervision (probation) because she had no prior felony conviction;

2. He wept in front of the jury because his spouse recently died, and he is sensitive to death;

3. He failed to object to the prosecutor’s comment on Welch’s failure to testify;

4. He conceded that a vehicle is a deadly weapon;
5. He conveyed confusion over the law in his closing argument;

6. He only called one witness; and 7. He failed to convey the severity of the punishment.

As with most inadequate assistance claims brought by direct appeal, we lack an appropriate record to resolve Welch’s challenges to her lawyer’s performance. Further, both Welch’s briefing—which misstates the standard for evaluating

ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims occurring during the punishment phase—and the record we do have fail to demonstrate that actions of Welch’s trial counsel prejudiced her. Finally, most of the deficiencies catalogued by Welch appear to be more differences in opinion about the tactical decisions of her trial counsel than a challenge to his competence. We affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

A. January 31, 2016 In the early afternoon of January 31, 2016, David West was driving his motorcycle northbound on F.M. 4 in Hood County. His wife was riding her trike motorcycle alongside him. Welch was driving a Dodge truck in the opposite direction.

Another motorist was driving northbound on F.M. 4 in front of David when he saw that the Dodge truck traveling southbound had veered into the northbound lane. The northbound motorist said that he initially thought the Dodge truck was trying to pass, but when he realized that the driver was not aware of which lane she was in, he “hit the ditch . . . to get out of the way.” When he looked over, he saw that the driver of the Dodge truck was looking down at her lap and not even looking at the road and that at no point did he see the driver attempt to brake or correct. In his rearview mirror, he saw the Dodge truck strike the motorcycle, which caused David’s body to fly through the air over the truck.

Another motorist driving on F.M. 4 at the time also witnessed the crash. She stated that the impact sent David “straight up in the air,” making him look “like a rag doll.” When first responders arrived only minutes after the crash, they “very quickly” determined that David was deceased.

Welch was indicted and charged with one count of intoxication manslaughter, one count of manslaughter, and one count of criminally negligent homicide. Each count included an allegation that Welch used a deadly weapon, her truck, in the commission of each offense. B. Trial Proceedings Welch waived arraignment and, after receiving admonishments from the trial court, pleaded guilty to the charge of intoxication manslaughter.1 She elected to have a jury assess her punishment, but before the punishment hearing, Welch filed an application for felony probation.

1. Witnesses’ Testimony At the punishment trial, the State called eleven witnesses and Welch called one.

Among the State’s witnesses was a trooper with the Department of Public Safety (DPS), who testified that he was dispatched to the scene of the crash. The DPS

The admonishments included the following relevant exchange regarding 1

Welch’s trial counsel:

THE COURT: And ma’am, have you been satisfied with [your trial counsel’s] representation?

DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.

trooper spoke to Welch at the scene and observed that her breath smelled of alcohol and that her eyes appeared red and “glassy.” The DPS trooper testified that Welch stated to him that as she was driving, “she was looking down at her phone, and she was texting, and when she looked back up, she realized she was on the wrong side of the road, and she saw the motorcycle rider but was unable to avoid him.” The DPS trooper said that he administered a voluntary field-sobriety test, which Welch failed, so he placed her under arrest for DWI. Welch was administered a breathalyzer test over an hour after the crash, and her results were a blood-alcohol content of .106 and .098—both over the legal limit.

Another witness testified that after the crash she saw Welch pour liquid out of beer cans and then throw them out of the truck.

A second DPS trooper also testified. The second trooper stated that he arrived at the scene of the crash to assist the first DPS trooper by taking inventories on the vehicles and releasing them to wrecker services. The second DPS trooper was asked about several of the State’s exhibits, which included a copy of a receipt found in Welch’s truck for the purchase of two alcoholic beverages approximately eight minutes prior to the crash. The second DPS trooper testified that he found an open beer can in the bed of Welch’s truck.

The second DPS trooper was then asked about a domestic disturbance call he responded to in August 2016—eight months after the crash. He said that when he

arrived at the scene, he found Welch intoxicated and presenting a danger to herself or others, so he arrested her for public intoxication.

A community supervision officer with Hood County’s “Adult Probation Department” testified that a condition of Welch bonding out of jail was the installation of an ignition-interlock device that would prevent Welch from starting her vehicle if she had above a .03 blood-alcohol content. The community supervision officer said that just a few months after the crash, the interlock device reported “a number of high alcohol -- high BAC alcohol readings.” He spoke to Welch, and although she admitted to drinking beer, she denied trying to start her vehicle. However, the community supervision officer was able to confirm “from the pictures in -- from the interlock device that it was her, in fact, that was trying to start the -- the vehicle.” He reported Welch’s admission of alcohol consumption and the positive alcohol reading from the interlock device to the trial court, resulting in the forfeiture of her bond and her return to jail.

David’s son and brother testified as well. David’s son testified that David’s death was “really hard,” and David’s brother testified that it was “devastating” and “shocking.”

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