Terrell Walls v. the State of Texas

CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
DecidedJune 16, 2026
Docket01-24-00617-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Terrell Walls v. the State of Texas (Terrell Walls v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston) primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terrell Walls v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

Opinion issued June 16, 2026.

In the

Court of Appeals for the

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-24-00617-CR ——————————— TERRELL WALLS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 248th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1635968

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant, Terrell Walls, appeals the adjudication of his guilt after he

violated the terms of his deferred adjudication probation, claiming that he was

denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel (1) did not

investigate and present evidence of his mental-health history at the adjudication hearing and (2) did not investigate the issue of his sanity. In two cross-points, the

State asks us to modify the trial court’s judgment to correct statements in the

judgment that are inconsistent with the record of appellant’s adjudication hearing.

Because the record does not affirmatively show that appellant’s trial

counsel’s performance was deficient in either of the respects alleged by appellant,

we overrule appellant’s points of error. Consistent with the State’s cross-points, we

modify the trial court’s judgment to reflect that appellant did not plead “TRUE” to

the allegations in the State’s motion to adjudicate and that the trial court did not

find that appellant had violated all of the conditions of community supervision set

forth in the State’s motion to adjudicate. We affirm the trial court’s judgment as

modified.

Background

The State charged appellant by indictment with aggravated robbery and

alleged that appellant had two prior felony convictions. After appellant pleaded

guilty on the aggravated robbery charge and that the punishment-enhancement

allegations were accurate, the trial court placed him on deferred-adjudication

community supervision for eight years. Roughly 18 months later, the State moved

to adjudicate appellant’s guilt. While the State included multiple grounds in its

motion to adjudicate, the adjudication hearing went forward only on the State’s

claim that appellant had violated the terms of his community supervision when he

2 traveled to California and failed to report to the community supervision department

as required.

The trial court held an adjudication hearing on August 12, 2024. The trial

court heard evidence that, beginning approximately 16 months after he was

sentenced and continuing for a period of at least a year, appellant failed to report to

the community supervision department as required. Appellant’s counsel told the

trial court that appellant had become scared to report after a warrant was issued for

his arrest in connection with a different alleged offense.

Following the hearing, the trial court found the State’s failure to report

allegation to be true, adjudged appellant guilty of the offense of aggravated

robbery, and sentenced appellant to the minimum jail-time sentence available, 25

years in prison. The trial court noted that appellant had been charged with a new

crime while on probation and stopped reporting. The trial court observed further

that, while 25 years was a long time, appellant had a “considerable” record going

back to 1991.

Appellant timely filed his notice of appeal, and the trial court certified his

right of appeal.

3 Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In his first point of error, appellant argues that he was denied effective

assistance of counsel because his trial counsel did not investigate and present

evidence of his mental-health history at the adjudication hearing.

A. Standard of Review

We review a claim that an appellant received ineffective assistance of

counsel at a hearing on a motion to adjudicate under the same standard applicable

to a claim that an appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel at the

punishment stage of a non-capital trial. See Ex parte Jones, No. AP-76,318, 2010

WL 2396565, at *2 (Tex. Crim. App. June 16, 2010) (per curiam) (not designated

for publication) (reviewing ineffective assistance of counsel claim arising from

motion to adjudicate under standard applicable to ineffective assistance of counsel

claim arising from punishment stage of a non-capital trial).

The two-pronged standard, established in Strickland v. Washington, 466

U.S. 668 (1984), requires a showing of (1) deficient performance, and

(2) prejudice. Id. (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687). To establish deficient

performance, the appellant must show that his counsel’s assistance fell below an

objective standard of reasonableness. Prine v. State, 537 S.W.3d 113, 117 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2017); Dryer v. State, 674 S.W.3d 635, 646 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st

Dist.] 2023, pet. ref’d). The appellant must overcome a strong presumption that

4 counsel’s performance fell within the wide range of reasonable professional

assistance. Prine, 537 S.W.3d at 117; Dryer, 674 S.W.3d at 646.

Any deficiency in counsel’s performance must therefore be firmly founded

in the record; it is not enough that counsel’s performance may seem questionable

in hindsight. Prine, 537 S.W.3d at 117; Dryer, 674 S.W.3d at 646-47. We cannot

find that counsel’s performance was deficient based on conjecture. Dryer, 674

S.W.3d at 647 (citing Scheanette v. State, 144 S.W.3d 503, 510 (Tex. Crim. App.

2004)). Nor can we infer that counsel’s performance was deficient based on

portions of the record that are unclear. Id. (citing Mata v. State, 226 S.W.3d 425,

432 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007)). Rather, the record must affirmatively show that

counsel’s performance was deficient. Prine, 537 S.W.3d at 117; Dryer, 674

S.W.3d at 647.

The trial record, standing alone, is rarely sufficient to show deficient

performance by counsel. Dryer, 674 S.W.3d at 647 (citing Nava v. State, 415

S.W.3d 289, 308 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013)). The reasonableness of counsel’s

decisions often depends on facts that do not appear in the record. Id. (citing

Mitchell v. State, 68 S.W.3d 640, 642 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002)). “Hence, counsel

ordinarily should be afforded the opportunity to explain his conduct before we find

that his performance was deficient.” Id. (citing Nava, 415 S.W.3d at 308).

5 If counsel has not been given that opportunity, we cannot find counsel’s

performance deficient unless the conduct was so outrageous that no competent

lawyer would have engaged in it. Id. (citing Menefield v. State, 363 S.W.3d 591,

593 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012)). In other words, “the record must demonstrate that

counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness as a

matter of law, and that no reasonable trial strategy could justify trial counsel’s acts

or omissions, regardless of his or her subjective reasoning.” Lopez v. State, 343

S.W.3d 137, 143 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). Generally, we will assume that counsel

had a reasonable strategic motive if any reasonable trial strategy can be imagined.

Dryer, 674 S.W.3d at 647 (citing Okonkwo v. State, 398 S.W.3d 689, 693 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2013)).

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Scheanette v. State
144 S.W.3d 503 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Mata v. State
226 S.W.3d 425 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Mitchell v. State
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Lopez v. State
343 S.W.3d 137 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Menefield v. State
363 S.W.3d 591 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
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449 S.W.3d 193 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014)
Jimenez, Ex Parte Rosa Estela Olvera
364 S.W.3d 866 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Nava, Andres Maldonado
415 S.W.3d 289 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Okonkwo, Chidiebele Gabriel
398 S.W.3d 689 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
City of Austin v. Harry M. Whittington
384 S.W.3d 766 (Texas Supreme Court, 2012)
Esaw Lampkin v. State
470 S.W.3d 876 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Jamie Green v. State
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