Medford v. State

766 S.W.2d 398, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 744, 1989 WL 30725
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 1, 1989
Docket3-87-221-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 766 S.W.2d 398 (Medford v. State) 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
Medford v. State, 766 S.W.2d 398, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 744, 1989 WL 30725 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

GAMMAGE, Justice.

Cleta Medford appeals from a conviction of driving while intoxicated with serious bodily injury. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701/ — 1(f) (Supp.1989). We will affirm the judgment.

On October 19, 1986, Medford crossed the center line of a four lane highway and collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by sixteen-year-old Jennie Brasfield. Jennie and her passenger, sixteen-year-old Mark Goodman, suffered extensive injuries. After the trial court informed Med-ford of the range of punishment, she waived her right to a jury and pleaded no contest on May 29, 1987. A sentencing hearing was set for July 2, 1987. On June 11,1987, Medford filed a motion for substitution of counsel and for a continuance. The court granted both motions and set the sentencing hearing for August 10, 1987, at which time Medford was sentenced to confinement for one year and fined $2500. On September 9, 1987, Medford filed a motion for new trial. After hearing testimony from Medford, her daughter and her doctor, Judge Maresh denied the motion.

By two points of error, Medford complains the court erred in denying her motion for new trial because her first attorney gave her ineffective assistance. Because the decision to grant a motion for new trial is within the discretion of the trial court, abuse must be shown or the decision will not be disturbed on appeal. Appleman v. State, 531 S.W.2d 806, 810 (Tex.Cr.App.1976) (on motion for rehearing).

A criminal defendant is entitled to reasonably effective assistance of counsel which is judged by the totality of the representation. Butler v. State, 716 S.W.2d 48, 54 (Tex.Cr.App.1986). Ineffective assistance requires a showing that “counsel’s performance was deficient ... [and] that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense.” Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Hernandez v. State, 726 S.W.2d 53, 57 (Tex.Cr.App.1986). In determining deficiency, we look at the total circumstances and presume counsel rendered adequate assistance and exercised professional judgment. 466 U.S. at 690,104 S.Ct. at 2066. In finding prejudice, we must determine:

there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.

466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068.

Medford argues her original counsel was ineffective because he rejected a low potassium defense, failed to interview expert or fact witnesses, failed to file pretrial motions and failed to properly inform her of the mandatory 30 days in jail if convicted of the offense charged. She claims these errors caused her to plead “no contest” rather than “not guilty.”

The record is sorely deficient in this case. There is no testimony by, or summarized *400 from, Medford’s first attorney in response to these allegations. The record fails to indicate that he was requested or subpoenaed to testify at the hearing on motion for new trial. Without the benefit of the original attorney’s testimony, we must view the record presuming he made the significant decisions with reasonable professional judgment.

At the hearing on motion for new trial, Medford’s daughter, a registered nurse, testified that hospital records show Med-ford had a low potassium count and this coüld cause dizziness or weakness which, in turn, could have caused the accident. Med-ford argues that failure to assert this as a defense was ineffective assistance of counsel.

Records show that when the hospital admitted Medford she had the smell of alcohol on her breath. There were apparently two blood tests administered, one by the hospital and one by the police. A letter from her doctor describes the hospital blood test results as showing a blood alcohol level of “.77” (obviously a typographical error, and well beyond the level at which death would result), and asserts that this is clearly below the legal intoxication level. The legal intoxication level is, however, .10. Medford’s daughter testified that when the possible defense of low potassium was discussed in a pretrial meeting the lawyer replied:

We have a little student nurse who is a witness to say that your mother gave permission for the patrolman to have the blood drawn for the test and we have the results of that and there is nothing else as important and there won’t be any jail time anyway, you know, so it’s nothing to worry about.

Neither the hospital nor the police blood test is in evidence because Medford pleaded no contest. Presuming the daughter’s testimony regarding what the attorney told her is correct, we may infer the results of the police test were above .10, and that Medford was intoxicated as a matter of law, thus rendering a low potassium defense irrelevant. Scherlie v. State, 689 S.W.2d 294 (Tex.Civ.App.1985), aff'd, 715 S.W.2d 653 (Tex.Cr.App.1986).

Medford also asserts ineffective assistance because no pretrial motions were filed, the police blood-alcohol test was not challenged and no witnesses were interviewed. Medford fails, however, to raise any questionable circumstances surrounding the blood test or to explain the merit of any pretrial motions. Furthermore, there is no evidence that witnesses were not interviewed. In fact, the opposite can be inferred from the testimony of Medford’s daughter, who testified that the lawyer required her to give him a medical release so he could review the hospital records. Moreover, the fact that the lawyer informed Medford of the police blood test, and that a student nurse was willing to testify that Medford gave permission for it, implies the lawyer at least examined the police reports and talked to the nurse. The record does not support Medford’s allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel and this Court will not attack trial counsel’s strategy through hindsight. Hawkins v. State, 660 S.W.2d 65, 75 (Tex.Cr.App.1983).

Finally, Medford asserts her original lawyer told her she would get probation rather than serve time in jail, though three days might be required. The range of punishment for this offense is 63 days to two years, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701Z-l(f) (Súpp.1989), and even were the trial court to grant probation, a minimum jail sentence of 30 days is required. Tex.Code Cr.P.Ann. art. 42.12, § 6b(b)(l) (Supp.1989). Medford claims that, had she known a minimum of 30 days in jail was required, she would not have pleaded “no contest.” She argues her lawyer’s failure to inform her of the minimum jail provision resulted in an involuntary plea. We disagree.

When a defendant enters a guilty plea or plea of no contest, it must be freely, knowingly and voluntarily entered. Tex.Code Cr.P.Ann.

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766 S.W.2d 398, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 744, 1989 WL 30725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medford-v-state-texapp-1989.