Wylie v. State

908 S.W.2d 307, 1995 WL 573392
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 17, 1996
Docket04-94-00142-CR; 04-94-00191-CR, 04-94-00192-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 908 S.W.2d 307 (Wylie 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
Wylie v. State, 908 S.W.2d 307, 1995 WL 573392 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

CHAPA, Chief Justice.

The motion for rehearing is denied, the opinion issued on July 12,1995, is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor.

Appellant Darrell Wylie appeals jury convictions based on three counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child. Appellant was sentenced by the jury to sixty years’ confinement and a fine of $10,000.00.

The sole issue before this court is whether appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel.

When we review a claim that trial counsel’s assistance was so defective as to require reversal, we must apply the standards established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Hernandez v. State, 726 S.W.2d 58, 57 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (en banc). Under this standard, it is the burden of the appellant to first show that trial counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Second, the accused must show that this deficient performance prejudiced the defense. In order to demonstrate prejudice, appellant “must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068, 80 L.Ed.2d at 674. However, “[t]his court will indulge a strong presumption that a counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance, that is, the appellant in this case was required to overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged actions imight be considered sound trial strategy.’ ” Martinez v. State, 675 S.W.2d 573, 575 (App.— San Antonio 1984, no pet.) (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. at 2066).

In Ewing v. State, 549 S.W.2d 392 (Tex.Crim.App.1977), overruled on other grounds, Hurley v. State, 606 S.W.2d 887, 890 (Tex.Crim.App.1980), the court formulated the following reasonable and flexible rules as guides in the application of the “reasonably effective” assistance of counsel standard: (1) the representation of counsel “must be gauged by the totality of the representation of the accused” since “an individual is entitled to a fair but not a perfect trial”; (2) the “assertions of ineffective counsel shall be sustained only if they are ‘firmly founded’”; and, (3) the appellate court is “not in a position to ‘second guess’, through appellate hindsight, the strategy adopted by counsel at trial.” Ewing, 549 S.W.2d at 395. “A full inquiry into the strategy or tactics of counsel should be made only if from all appearances after trial, there is no plausible basis in strategy or tactics for his actions.” Ex Parte Burns, 601 S.W.2d 370, 372 (Tex.Crim.App.1980) (en banc). ‘We believe this, simply stated, means if there is any basis for trial strategy to have been a reason for trial counsel’s action, then further inquiry is improper.” Newsome v. State, 703 S.W.2d 750, 755 (Tex.App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 1985, no pet.).

Appellant bases his ineffective assistance of counsel complaint on the following allegations: (1) that counsel failed to object to hearsay testimony from Beth Comeaux, Rosemary Denise Wylie, Robert Morales, and Dr. Nancy Kellogg regarding the statements of the child complainant about the sexual abuse; (2) that counsel failed to object to opinion testimony regarding the truthfulness of the complainant; (3) that counsel “was unable to prevent the jury from hearing evidence of extraneous misconduct” of appellant; (4) that counsel faded to object to the *309 admission of the videotape of the complainant; and (5) that counsel failed to object to alleged improper jury arguments of the prosecutor.

Beth Comeaux, who was fifteen years old, testified that the child complainant was in tears one day and that she told Beth about the sexual abuses of the appellant. The record reflects that counsel in fact objected to this hearsay testimony, but was overruled by the court. Consequently, this instance cannot form the basis for an ineffective assistance complaint. Although the objection made was broad and seemed to include all hearsay statements, appellant insists that the objection was untimely and unspecific, which amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. However, the subsequent cross-examination of the witness appeared to further appellant’s apparent trial strategy of defining the complainant as an unbelievable child who carelessly joked about sex. We cannot say that the alleged inaction was not intentional and coincided with the trial strategy.

Rosemary Denise Wylie, the complainant’s mother, was the appropriate outcry witness under article 38.072 of the code of criminal procedure. Tex.Code CRiM.PROC. Ann. art. 38.072 (Vernon Supp.1995). There is no indication, however, that the State met the notice and hearing requirements of the rule. Nevertheless, “[sjince the child[] did testify and there is no evidence in the record that appellant’s attorney was surprised by the mother’s testimony, there was no prejudice to appellant’s case by admission of the mother’s testimony,” even if an objection had been made. Hupp v. State, 729 S.W.2d 355, 358 (Tex.App. — Dallas 1987), (vacated and remanded for analysis of parole charge under Hupp v. State, 761 S.W.2d 10 (Tex.Crim.App.1988)).

Moreover, it is clear from the record that the trial strategy of the defense was to attack the credibility of the complainant and to establish that the testimony of both Co-meaux and Mrs. Wylie was tainted by bias and prejudice. We cannot conclude that the complained-of inaction of the trial counsel was not calculated to develop the trial strategy of attempting to instill reasonable doubt.

Appellant’s complaints regarding the testimony of Robert Morales, a caseworker with the Department of Human Services, and Dr. Nancy Kellogg, the Medical Director of the Alamo Children’s Advocacy Center, stem from their review of the actions that were taken during the investigation of the abuse, the procedures used to examine abuse victims in these cases, and their experience. A review of the testimony of both witnesses, as a whole, reveals that their opinion testimony “merely embrace[d] the ultimate issue ... [but] did not cross that line in an attempt to decide the [ultimate] issue for the jury.” Duckett v. State, 797 S.W.2d 906, 920 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). Appellant, however, insists that the testimony went further and amounted to bolstering by a direct opinion on the truthfulness of the child, which was condemned by Yount v. State, 872 S.W.2d 706 (Tex.CrimApp.1993). However, Yount

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Bluebook (online)
908 S.W.2d 307, 1995 WL 573392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wylie-v-state-texapp-1996.