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OF TEX AS

N O

. W R

- 7 8

, 5 4 5

- 0 2

E X P A R T E D A V I D M A R K T E M P L E

, A p p l i c a n t

O N A P P L I C A T I O N F O R A W R I T O F H A B E A S C O R P U S

I N C A U S E N O

. 1 0 0 8 7 6 3

- A F R O M T H E

1 7 8 D I S T R I C T C O U R T O F H A R R I S C O U N T Y T H

Y E A R Y

, J

. , f

i l e d a c o n c u r r i n g o p i n i o n

.

C O N C U R R I N G O P I N I O N

T h i s i s a p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n f o r w r i t o f h a b e a s c o r p u s c h a l l e n g i n g A p p l i c a n t ’ s

c o n v i c t i o n f

o r t h e m u r d e r o f h i s w i f e

, b r o u g h t p u r s u a n t t o A r t i c l e 1 1

. 0 7 o f t h e T e x a s C o d e

o f C r i m i n a l P r o c e d u r e

. T E X

. C O D E C R IM

. P R O C

. a r t

. 1 1

. 0 7

. T h e h a b e a s c o u r t c o n d u c t e d a n

e x t e n s i v e e v i d e n t i a r y h e a r i n g o n t h e w r i t a p p l i c a t i o n

, s p a n n i n g t w e n t y

- f o u r d a y s o v e r t h e

c o u r s e o f t w o

- a n d

- a

- h a l f m o n t h s

, a n d h a s r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t w e g r a n t A p p l i c a n t a n e w t r i a l

.

W e f i l e d a n d s e t t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o n a n u m b e r o f c l a i m s

, i n c l u d i n g : 1 ) c l a i m s p r e d i c a t e d o n

B r a d y v

. Ma r y l a n d

, 3 7 3 U

. S

. 8 3 ( 1 9 6 3 )

, u p o n w h i c h t h e h a b e a s c o u r t r e c o m m e n d s t h a t w e

g r a n t r e l i e f ; 2 ) c l a i m s o f i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l u n d e r S t r i c k l a n d v

. W a s h i n g t o n

,TEMPL E — 2

4 6 6 U

. S

. 6 6 8 ( 1 9 8 4 ) ; a n d 3 ) a c l a i m o f a c t u a l i n n o c e n c e u n d e r t h i s C o u r t ’ s o p i n i o n i n E x

p a r t e E l iz o n d o

, 9 4 7 S

. W

. 2 d 2 0 2 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 6 )

. U l t i m a t e l y

, I w o u l d n o t g r a n t r e l i e f

o n t h e b a s i s o f

A p p l i c a n t ’ s B r a d

y c l a i m s

, a s t h e t r i a l c o u r t h a s r e c o m m e n d e d a n d t h e C o u r t

d o e s t o d a y

. N e v e r t h e l e s s

, I w o u l d s u s t a i n o n e o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s c l a i m s o f i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e

o f t r i a l c o u n s e l

. I n e x p l a i n i n g w h y

, I w i l l r e c o u n t m a n y o f t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s g i v i n g r i s e t o

A p p l i c a n t ’ s B r a d

y c l a i m s b e c a u s e t h e y s e t t h e b a c k d r o p f o r m y c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t r i a l c o u n s e l ’ s

d e f i c i e n t p e r f

o r m a n c e u n d e r m i n e s c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e o u t c o m e o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l

.

I

. P R O C E D U R A L H I S T O R Y

O n t h e a f t e r n o o n o f J a n u a r y 1 1

, 1 9 9 9

, B e l i n d a T e m p l e w a s m u r d e r e d b y a s i n g l e s h o t

t o t h e b a c k o f h e r h e a d w i t h a t w e l v e

- g a u g e s h o t g u n a s s h e k n e l t i n t h e w a l k

- i n c l o s e t o f f o f

t h e m a s t e r b a t h r o o m o f h e r h o m e i n K a t y

. S h e w a s s e v e n m o n t h s ’ p r e g n a n t a t t h e t i m e

. 1

W h e n i n v e s t i g a t o r s w i t h t h e H a r r i s C o u n t y S h e r i f f ’ s O f f i c e d i s c o v e r e d t h a t h e r h u s b a n d

,

A p p l i c a n t

, w a s h a v i n g a n e x t r a m a r i t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h o n e o f h i s c o

- w o r k e r s a t o n e o f t h e

l o c a l h i g h s c h o o l s

, h e b e c a m e a m a j o r f o c u s o f t h e i r i n v e s t i g a t i o n

. I n M a r c h a n d A p r i l o f

1 9 9 9

, p r o s e c u t o r s t o o k t h e c a s e t o a g r a n d j u r y

. T h e y p r o d u c e d a d o z e n w i t n e s s e s

, b u t t h e y

d i d n o t a s k t h e g r a n d j u r y t o r e t u r n a n i n d i c t m e n t a t t h a t t i m e

. A n d i n d e e d

, t h e e v i d e n c e

a g a i n s t A p p l i c a n t

, w h i l e i t r a i s e d s e r i o u s s u s p i c i o n s

, w a s n o t o v e r l y c o m p e l l i n g

. T h e r e w a s

A firea rms examiner testified at trial that the diameter of the wadding from the shotgun shell 1

u s ed t o murder Be linda was “consistent with a 12-g aug e more than any other g aug e” of s h o t gu n

shell. I t has not been seriously disputed at any stag e of these procee dings that the m urde r we ap o n

was a twelve- g aug e shotg un.TEMPL E — 3

s o m e q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r h e h a d b e e n a t h o m e a t t h e t i m e o f t h e m u r d e r

, s i n c e h e w a s s e e n w i t h

h i s a n d B e l i n d a ’ s t h r e e

- y e a r

- o l d s o n

, E T ( h e r e i n a f t e r

, “ E T ” )

, o n t h e s e c u r i t y v i d e o t a p e o f a

l o c a l s u p e r m a r k e t e i t h e r a s

, o r a t l e a s t s o o n a f t e r

, t h e m u r d e r i s m o s t l i k e l y t o h a v e t a k e n

p l a c e

. M o r e o v e r

, t h e g r a n d j u r y a l s o h e a r d t e s t i m o n y a b o u t t h e T e m p l e s ’ n e x t

- d o o r

2

n e i g h b o r

, R J S

, I I I ( h e r e i n a f t e r

, “ R J S ” )

, a s i x t e e n

- y e a r

- o l d b o y w h o w a s a s t u d e n t a t t h e h i g h

s c h o o l w h e r e B e l i n d a w o r k e d a s a t u t o r a n d s p e c i a l

- n e e d s i n s t r u c t o r

. B e l i n d a h a d r e c e n t l y 3

r e p o r t e d t o R J S ’ s p a r e n t s t h a t R J S h a d b e e n h a b i t u a l l y s k i p p i n g c l a s s e s

, a m o n g o t h e r m i n o r

i n f r a c t i o n s

, a n d R J S a d m i t t e d t o t h e g r a n d j u r y t h a t h e h a d b e e n h o m e a l o n e

, a s l e e p o n t h e

c o u c h

, a t t h e t i m e o f t h e m u r d e r

.

F i v e y e a r s l a t e r

, i n t h e s u m m e r o f 2 0 0 4

, t h e c a s e w a s c a l l e d t o t h e a t t e n t i o n o f a

p r o s e c u t o r i n t h e c o l d

- c a s e d i v i s i o n o f t h e H a r r i s C o u n t y D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ’ s o f f i c e

. B y t h i s

t i m e

, A p p l i c a n t h a d m a r r i e d H e a t h e r S c o t t

, t h e o b j e c t o f h i s 1 9 9 9 e x t r a m a r i t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p

.

W i t h o u t p r e s e n t i n g a n y n e w e v i d e n c e t o t h e g r a n d j u r y

, t h e p r o s e c u t o r o b t a i n e d a m u r d e r

i n d i c t m e n t a g a i n s t A p p l i c a n t a n d h a d h i m a r r e s t e d

. W h e n t h e d e f e n s e a t t o r n e y h i r e d b y 4

The time-stamp on a secur ity video from the supermar ket indicated that Applicant arr ived 2

there with ET at 4:32 p.m.

Be linda worke d at a diff

ere nt high sc hool than Applicant. 3

Applicant knew that Be linda was preg nant, of course

. As of 1999, howeve r, the L eg islature 4

had not y et provided that the murder of a preg nant woman was a capital offe nse. See Acts 2003, 78th

L eg

., ch. 823, § 2.01, p. 2608, eff

. Sept. 1, 2003 (ame nding Penal Code Section 1.07(26)’ s definition

of “individual” to include “an unborn child at ever y stag e of g estation from fer tiliz ation until birth”);

Lawrence v. State

, 240 S.W .3d 912, 915 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (re cog nizi ng the 2003 leg islative

amendment a

uthorizi ng capital pr osecution for the murder

of a mother

and her fetus).TEMPL E — 4

A p p l i c a n t ’ s f

a m i l y a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y r e q u e s t e d a n e x a m i n i n g t r i a l f o r A p p l i c a n t

, t h e

p r o s e c u t o r r e s p o n d e d b y c l o s i n g t h e S t a t e ’ s f i l e t o h i m

, a s w a s t h e H a r r i s C o u n t y D i s t r i c t

A t t o r n e y ’ s u n o f

f i c i a l o f f i c e p o l i c y a t t h a t t i m e

. F r o m t h a t p o i n t o n

, t h e p r o s e c u t o r p r o v i d e d

d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w i t h n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n t h e l i m i t e d d i s c o v e r y t o w h i c h A p p l i c a n t w a s

m i n i m a l l y e n t i t l e d u n d e r t h e l a w

. A s f o r B r a d y m a t e r i a l

, t h e t e n o r o f

t h e t e s t i m o n y o f

b o t h 5

t h e p r o s e c u t o r a n d h e r s e c o n d c h a i r a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g w a s t h a t t h e y f e l t d u t y b o u n d t o

d i s c l o s e e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g i n f o r m a t i o n o n l y i f t h e y b e l i e v e d i t t o b e t r u e ; i f t h e y f e l t

c o n f i d e n t t h a t t h e s h e r i f

f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s h a d s a t i s f a c t o r i l y r u l e d o u t a n a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t

,

t h e y d i d n o t b e l i e v e t h e y w e r e o b l i g a t e d t o d i s c l o s e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f

t h a t a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t t o t h e d e f e n s e u n d e r B r a d

y

. T h u s

, w h i l e A p p l i c a n t ’ s f a m i l y 6

c o n v e y e d t o d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l t h e i r b e l i e f t h a t R J S w a s a v i a b l e s u s p e c t

, t h e S t a t e d i d n o t h i n g

a t a n y t i m e p r i o r t o A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l t o a l e r t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l t o t h e f

u l l e x t e n t o f l a w

e n f o r c e m e n t ’ s i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o R J S ’ s p o s s i b l e i n v o l v e m e n t i n B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

.

Prior to the passag e of the Michae l Mor ton A ct in 2013, “Te x as law g ave a defe ndant the 5

rig ht to no more discovery than due proce ss require s.” Ger ald S. Reamey

, The Truth Might Set Y ou

Free: How the Michael Morton Act C ould Fundamentally Change Texas C riminal Discove ry, Or

Not , 48 T E X

. T E C H

. L

. R E V . 893, 898 (2016).

Asked whether the State sh o u ld r e v e a l in f o r ma ti o n a b out an alterna tive suspect prior to trial, 6

the s econd chair prosecutor replied, “Not if y ou run i t down and there ’s no validity to it, then i t is

not something that needs to be disclosed.” The first chair prosec utor testified simil arly that she was

not obliga ted to turn over information seeming ly favor able to the defe nse if in her estimation it was

“ridiculous.” She went so far as to asser t that it was her “job” to “stand up for” an alterna tive suspect

like RJ S if she believed he was being “wr ong fully acc used.” She insisted that “[t] here is a line y ou

have to draw in y our own mind ethically wher e y ou quit acc using a 16-y ear -old boy of committing

a ca pital murder.”TEMPL E — 5

A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l c o m m e n c e d i n O c t o b e r o f 2 0 0 7

, l a s t i n g a p p r o x i m a t e l y f i v e w e e k s

.

I n h i s o p e n i n g s t a t e m e n t t o t h e j u r y b e f o r e a n y e v i d e n c e w a s p r e s e n t e d

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l

m a d e n o m e n t i o n o f a n a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t

. I n s t e a d

, h e e m p h a s i z e d t h a t A p p l i c a n t s i m p l y

c o u l d n o t h a v e h a d e n o u g h t i m e t o p e r p e t r a t e t h e m u r d e r g i v e n t h e t i m e

- l i n e h e e x p e c t e d t h e

e v i d e n c e t o r e v e a l

. T h e S t a t e ’ s t h e o r y o f t h e c a s e w a s t h a t A p p l i c a n t w a s m o t i v a t e d t o

m u r d e r B e l i n d a i n o r d e r t o p a v e t h e w a y t o m a r r y S c o t t ; a n d t h a t h e s t a g e d a b u r g l a r y t o

m a k e i t a p p e a r a s i f s h e h a d b e e n k i l l e d b y a n i n t r u d e r w h i l e h e w a s o u t r u n n i n g e r r a n d s w i t h

E T

. S o m e w h e r e a l o n g t h e w a y h e s u c c e s s f u l l y d i s p o s e d o f t h e t w e l v e

- g a u g e s h o t g u n h e 7

u s e d t o k i l l B e l i n d a

, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e S t a t e ’ s t h e o r y

, a n d n o w e a p o n w a s e v e r f o u n d t h a t w a s

d e f i n i t i v e l y s h o w n t o b e t h e m u r d e r w e a p o n

. A l t h o u g h A p p l i c a n t h a d o w n e d a s h o t g u n a s

a t e e n a g e r

, t h e p a r t i e s d i s p u t e d t h e g a u g e o f t h a t s h o t g u n a n d

, i n a n y e v e n t

, i t w a s u n d i s p u t e d

t h a t A p p l i c a n t n o l o n g e r p o s s e s s e d t h a t p a r t i c u l a r s h o t g u n a t t h e t i m e o f t h e o f f e n s e

. A l s o

c r i t i c a l t o t h e S t a t e ’ s c a s e w a s t h e i n f e r e n c e t h a t a n y o t h e r p e r p e t r a t o r b e s i d e s A p p l i c a n t

w o u l d h a v e c a u s e d t h e T e m p l e s ’ d o g

, S h a k a

, a n a g g r e s s i v e c h o w

, t o r a i s e a r u c k u s i n t h e

b a c k y a r d ( t h e p u r p o r t e d p o i n t o f e n t r y h a v i n g b e e n t h e b a c k d o o r ) a n d a l e r t t h e w h o l e

n e i g h b o r h o o d

. A p p l i c a n t r e b u t t e d t h i s i n f e r e n c e w i t h s u b s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e

, i n c l u d i n g h i s o w n

Be cause ET was running a low feve r on the day of the offe nse, Be linda left school ear ly to 7

fet ch h im from his day car e center and take him home. S he then called Applicant t o come tend to

ET while she returne d to school for an important meeting

. She was murdere d afte r she returne d home

from that meeting

, but not befor e she stopped at her in-laws’ house to pick up a batch of homemade

chicke n soup for ET. By the time she arr ived home, ETwas fee ling much better. At trial, the parties

s t i p u lated that a subsequent psy cholog ical ex amination reve aled “no evidenc e that ET had been a

witness to the murder.”TEMPL E — 6

t e s t i m o n y

, t h a t h e h a d l e f t S h a k a i n t h e s t a n d

- a l o n e g a r a g e w h i l e o u t r u n n i n g e r r a n d s

— n o t

i n t h e b a c k y a r d

, a s t h e S t a t e ’ s t h e o r y a s s u m e d

.

D e f e n s e c o u n s e l b e g a n t o d i s c o v e r t h e s c o p e o f t h e S t a t e ’ s i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f R J S e a r l y

i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h e t r i a l

, a s s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s t e s t i f

i e d a n d d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l w a s p e r m i t t e d

t o r e v i e w t h e i r o f

f e n s e r e p o r t s i n p r e p a r i n g f o r c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n

. H e w a s a l s o a l l o w e d t o

r e v i e w t h e e a r l i e r g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y o f t h o s e t r i a l w i t n e s s e s w h o h a d t e s t i f i e d b e f o r e t h e

1 9 9 9 g r a n d j u r y

. B y t h e s e a t o f h i s p a n t s

, h e b e g a n t o d e v e l o p a s u p p l e m e n t a l d e f e n s i v e

t h e o r y ( n o t i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h h i s o r i g i n a l d e f e n s i v e t h e o r y ) t h a t

— a s h e u l t i m a t e l y a r g u e d t o

t h e j u r y i n h i s f

i n a l s u m m a t i o n a t t h e g u i l t s t a g e

— t h e e v i d e n c e t h a t R J S c o m m i t t e d t h e

o f f e n s e

, w h i l e a d m i t t e d l y s k e t c h y

, w a s n e v e r t h e l e s s m o r e s u b s t a n t i a l t h a n t h e e v i d e n c e o f

A p p l i c a n t ’ s g u i l t

.

M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y

, d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l w a s a b l e t o s h o w t h a t R J S h a d a c c e s s t o a

H a r r i n g t o n & R i c h a r d s o n ( h e r e i n a f t e r

, “ H & R ” ) b r e a k

- o p e n t w e l v e

- g a u g e s h o t g u n

. T h i s

s h o t g u n b e l o n g e d t o R J S ’ s f a t h e r

. W h e n i t w a s r e c o v e r e d

, i t c o n t a i n e d a n e x p e n d e d s h o t g u n

s h e l l

. B e f

o r e i t h a d b e e n f

i r e d

, t h i s s h e l l h a d b e e n “ r e l o a d e d ”

— t h a t i s t o s a y

, i t w a s n o t a s

o r i g i n a l l y m a n u f

a c t u r e d

, b u t h a d b e e n r e

- p a c k e d b y h a n d

. T h e S t a t e ’ s e x p e r t s h a d c o n c l u d e d

t h a t t h e s h o t g u n s h e l l u s e d t o m u r d e r B e l i n d a h a d b e e n s i m i l a r l y r e l o a d e d

. R J S ’ s f a t h e r

p o s s e s s e d a n u m b e r o f t h e s e r e l o a d e d s h e l l s a f t e r t h e m u r d e r

, b u t t h o s e w e r e f o u n d t o c o n t a i n

w a d d i n g t h a t w a s d i f

f e r e n t t h a n t h e w a d d i n g f r o m t h e r e l o a d e d s h e l l u s e d t o k i l l B e l i n d a ( a n d

r e c o v e r e d f

r o m t h e f l o o r o f t h e w a l k

- i n c l o s e t w h e r e h e r b o d y w a s f o u n d )

. I n s h o r t

, w h i l e i tTEMPL E — 7

w a s n e v e r d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e H & R s h o t g u n w a s t h e a c t u a l m u r d e r w e a p o n

, d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l w a s a b l e t o a r g u e t o t h e j u r y t h a t R J S h a d a c c e s s t o t h e c l o s e s t t h i n g t o t h e m u r d e r

w e a p o n t h a t a n y i n v e s t i g a t i o n h a d y e t r e v e a l e d

. H a v i n g l e a r n e d a s w e l l d u r i n g t r i a l t h a t

B e l i n d a h a d r e p o r t e d R J S ’ s t r u a n c y t o h i s p a r e n t s

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s a l s o a b l e t o s u g g e s t

t o t h e j u r y t h a t R J S h a d a s u b s t a n t i a l

, a l b e i t n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y c o m p e l l i n g

, m o t i v e t o k i l l h e r

.

T o a l i m i t e d e x t e n t

, d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l u s e d t h e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d o f f e n s e r e p o r t s t o i m p e a c h

t h e t e s t i m o n y o f t h e s h e r i f f ’ s d e t e c t i v e s w h o c l a i m e d u l t i m a t e l y t o h a v e b e e n “ s a t i s f i e d ” t h a t

R J S w a s n o t t h e p e r p e t r a t o r

. M o r e o v e r

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l u s e d i n f

o r m a t i o n g l e a n e d f

r o m b o t h 8

t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s a n d R J S ’ s o w n e a r l i e r g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y t o c r o s s

- e x a m i n e R J S w h e n

h e t o o k t h e s t a n d a s t h e S t a t e ’ s o n l y r e b u t t a l w i t n e s s a t t h e e n d o f t h e g u i l t p h a s e o f e v i d e n c e

t o d e n y h a v i n g k i l l e d B e l i n d a

. T h e j u r y f o u n d A p p l i c a n t g u i l t y a f t e r d e l i b e r a t i n g f

o r m o r e

t h a n a f u l l d a y

. I t l a t e r a s s e s s e d h i m a l i f e s e n t e n c e

. 9

T h e m a j o r t h r u s t o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s d i r e c t a p p e a l w a s t o c h a l l e n g e t h e s u f f i c i e n c y o f t h e

These offe nse repor

ts revea led that RJ S wa s questioned by various sheriff ’s investiga tors 8

as m any as seven times, g iving a number of oral statements and two written statements. He wa s

subjected to two poly g raph tests, both of which showed signs of dece ption when he was asked about

his involvement in Be linda’s murder. He eventua lly ref used to submit to a third poly g raph. I n spite

of these circ umstances as detailed in his offen s e re port, Detec tive Charles L eithner pronounce d

himself “satisfied” at trial that R J S did not kill Be linda. Def ense counsel was preve nted from

introducing evidenc e of RJS ’s fa iled poly g raphs, a nd Applicant did not complain of this ruling on

ap p ea l

. Bu t defe nse counsel was permitted to show that RJ S was questioned repe atedly by th e

investiga tors and that, at one point

, L eithner told RJ S’s pare nts that RJ S could not be rule d out as

a suspec t until hi s story

could be c orrobor ated.

The docket sheet ref

lects that the jury was re tired to delibera te at 2:47 p.m. on November 9

14, 2007, excused for the evening at 4:45 p.m., and then returne d its verdic t the next day at 4:25 p.m.TEMPL E — 8

e v i d e n c e

, b o t h l e g a l l y a n d f a c t u a l l y

, t o s h o w t h a t h e m u r d e r e d h i s w i f e

. W h i l e h i s a p p e a l w a s

p e n d i n g

, h o w e v e r

, t h i s C o u r t e l i m i n a t e d f a c t u a l s u f

f i c i e n c y f r o m t h e T e x a s c r i m i n a l j u s t i c e

l e x i c o n

, t o t h e d i s m a y o f t w o m e m b e r s o f t h e F o u r t e e n t h C o u r t o f A p p e a l s w h o w e r e i n c l i n e d

t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e a g a i n s t A p p l i c a n t w a s f a c t u a l l y i n s u f

f i c i e n t

. S e e T

e m p l e v

. S t a t e

,

3 4 2 S

. W

. 3 d 5 7 2 ( T e x

. A p p

. — H o u s t o n [ 1 4 t h D i s t

. ] 2 0 1 0 )

. T h e c o u r t o f a p p e a l s c o n c l u d e d 1 0

t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e w a s l e g a l l y s u f f i c i e n t

, o v e r t h e d i s s e n t o f o n e j u s t i c e o n d e n i a l o f r e h e a r i n g

e n b a n c w h o b e l i e v e d o t h e r w i s e

. O n p e t i t i o n f o r d i s c r e t i o n a r y r e v i e w

, t h i s C o u r t u l t i m a t e l y 1 1

a f f i r m e d t h e c o u r t o f a p p e a l s ’ s j u d g m e n t t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e w a s l e g a l l y s u f f i c i e n t

. T e m p l e v

.

S t a t e

, 3 9 0 S

. W

. 3 d 3 4 1

, 3 6 3 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 1 3 )

. 1 2

A p p l i c a n t a l s o c o m p l a i n e d o n d i r e c t a p p e a l a b o u t t h e l a t e d i s c l o s u r e o f t h e

J ustice Sey

more auth o r e d th e p a

n e l o p in io n h o ld in g the evidenc e leg ally sufficie nt. Temple

, 1 0

3 4 2 S

. W.3d at 581-619. But he also authore d a separ ate concur ring opinion, decr

y ing the panel’ s

acquie scenc e to the plurality and concur ring opinions of this Court in Brooks v. State

, 323 S.W .3d

893 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010), which a few months ear lier had abandone d fac tual sufficie ncy revie w.

J ustice McCally

, who was not a member o f t he original panel, authore d an im passioned 1 1

dissent to the denial of rehe aring en banc, urg ing the court of appea ls to hold that the evidenc e was

leg ally insufficient. Temple

, 342 S.W .3d at 628-46. J ustice Sey more weig hed in ag ain, writing a

separ ate dissent to the denial of en banc rehe aring

. He disag ree d with J ustice McCally ’s conclusion

that the evidence was leg ally insufficient, b ut he opined that, for essentially the s ame reasons that

J u s t i ce M cCally conclude d that the evidenc e was leg ally insufficient, he would hold that it was

fac tually insufficient. Id . at 646-59. He was joined by J ustice Ande rson.

The majority opinion of the court of appea ls panel, the separ ate opinions on the denial of 1 2

rehe aring en banc, and the opinion of this Court on discretionar y revie w, all eng ag ed in leng thy and

meticulou s re ci tations of t he evidence. Thoug h I have studied both the entire rec ord of the appeal

as we ll as the l eng thy hear ing on Applicant’s writ application, I do not rec ite the fa cts in quite the

same level of detail in this opinion. For prese nt purposes, I m u s t l i m i t my fac t rec itation to those

detail s m o s t p er tinent to Applicant’s particula r post-conviction claims. For the full flavor of how

p ai n staking the leg al sufficie ncy analy ses wer e in this case

, howeve r, I ref er the rea der t o t h o s e

various re citations. Our discre tionary revie w was limited to Applicant’s suff iciency claims.TEMPL E — 9

i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e S t a t e ’ s i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t

, R J S

. H e

a r g u e d t h a t t h e d e l a y e d d i s c l o s u r e v i o l a t e d h i s r i g h t t o d u e p r o c e s s u n d e r B r a d y

. T h e c o u r t

o f a p p e a l s r e

j e c t e d t h i s p o i n t o f e r r o r f o r t w o r e a s o n s

. F i r s t

, i t h e l d t h a t A p p l i c a n t h a d

p r o c e d u r a l l y d e f

a u l t e d t h i s c l a i m

. T

e m p l e

, 3 4 2 S

. W

. 3 d a t 5 9 1

. B e c a u s e d e f e n s e c o u n s e l d i d

n o t f o r m a l l y s e e k a c o n t i n u a n c e u n t i l t h r e e w e e k s a f t e r t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s b e g a n t o c o m e t o

l i g h t

, w e l l i n t o h i s p r e s e n t a t i o n o f d e f e n s i v e e v i d e n c e a n d n e a r t h e e n d o f t h e g u i l t p h a s e o f

t h e t r i a l

, t h e c o u r t o f

a p p e a l s h e l d t h a t h e f

o r f e i t e d h i s r i g h t t o c o m p l a i n

, u n d e r t h i s C o u r t ’ s

p r e c e d e n t i n W

i l s o n v

. S t a t e

, 7 S

. W

. 3 d 1 3 6

, 1 4 6 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 9 )

. I d

. A l t e r n a t i v e l y

, 1 3

t h e c o u r t o f a p p e a l s h e l d t h a t

, b e c a u s e A p p l i c a n t w a s a b l e i n a n y e v e n t t o e f f e c t i v e l y p r e s e n t

t h e u n t i m e l y d i s c l o s e d f a c t s

, t h e r e w a s n o t “ a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t t h e o u t c o m e o f t h e

t r i a l w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f f e r e n t h a d t h e S t a t e d i s c l o s e d t h e s e f a c t s e a r l i e r

. ” I

d

. a t 5 9 2

.

A p p l i c a n t d i d n o t c h a l l e n g e t h i s h o l d i n g i n h i s p e t i t i o n f o r d i s c r e t i o n a r y r e v i e w

, a n d w e h a d

n o o c c a s i o n t o a d d r e s s i t i n o u r o p i n i o n

. 1 4

The Court’s opinion today does not addre ss this aspect of the c ourt of appe als’ holding

. 1 3

Applicant also claimed on appea l that the first chair pro s ec u t o r en g ag ed in numerous 1 4

instances of prosec utorial misconduct during the course of the trial. The court of appea ls ag ree d with

many though not all of these claims but conclude d that, on balanc e, her misconduct did not opera te

to deprive Applicant of a fa i r t rial. Temple

, 342 S.W .3d at 592-619. These numerous claims wer e

not embra ced withi n the scope of our discretionar y revie w, which was limit ed to Applicant’s

sufficie ncy claims. To a larg e extent, Applicant’s prese nt post-conviction writ application continues

to dwell on the prosec utor’s conduct and her cha ra ct er

. W hile I do not condone some of the

prosec utor’s actions in this case

, I find Applicant’s focus on her co n d u ct and char acte r larg ely to

distract from the g enuine issue under Brady

, namely

, whether Applicant was ultimately deprive d of

favor able evidenc e that might rea listi cally have made a differ ence to the outcome of his trial. After

all, the bedroc k “princ iple” that underg irds Brady “is not punishment of society for the misdeeds of

a prosec utor but avoidanc e of an unfair trial to the acc used.” Brady

, 373 U.S. at 87 (citing MooneyTEMPL E — 10

A p p l i c a n t r a i s e s a n u m b e r o f i s s u e s i n h i s p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n f o r w r i t o f

h a b e a s c o r p u s

, m o s t p r o m i n e n t o f w h i c h i s h i s r e n e w e d B r a d y c l a i m

. U n f

o r t u n a t e l y

, i n 1 5

n e i t h e r h i s w r i t a p p l i c a t i o n n o r d u r i n g t h e e x t e n s i v e h a b e a s e v i d e n t i a r y h e a r i n g h a s A p p l i c a n t

a d e q u a t e l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t h e c l a i m s w a s b e l a t e d l y d i s c l o s e d d u r i n g t r i a l

( h e r e i n a f t e r

, “ l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e ” ) f r o m i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t h e a l l e g e s w a s n o t d i s c l o s e d

u n t i l a f t e r t r i a l ( h e r e i n a f

t e r

, “ u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e ” )

. T o a s i g n i f i c a n t e x t e n t

, h e c o n t i n u e s

t o c o m p l a i n o f t h e l a t e d i s c l o s u r e r a t h e r t h a n o f a n y n o n

- d i s c l o s u r e

. E v e n t h o u g h d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l r e v i e w e d m a n y o f t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s d u r i n g t r i a l a n d p u t m u c h o f i t t o e f f e c t i v e u s e

,

A p p l i c a n t c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e r e w e r e o t h e r b i t s o f e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g e v i d e n c e

e m b e d d e d i n t h e m t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l s i m p l y m i s s e d b e c a u s e o f t h e c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h

h e w a s c o m p e l l e d t o r e v i e w t h e m

. I n e s s e n c e

, A p p l i c a n t a r g u e s t h a t

, w h i l e d e f e n s e c o u n s e l 1 6

v. Holohan , 294 U.S. 103 (1935)).

To the extent that Applicant is now complaining of late-disclosure of the same information 1 5

that he complained about on direc t appea l, the court of appea ls’ disposal of that issue, which we had

no occa sion to examine on discretionar y revie w, has become law of the case

. Thus, the court of

appea ls’ holdin gs t h at Applicant’s Brady complaint was proce durally defa ulted and that,

al t er n atively

, the particula r information he claimed on appea l that the State suppressed was n o t

materia l, those holdings have become binding. S ee Georg e E. Dix & J ohn M. Schmolesky

, 43B

T E X A S P R A C T I C E : C R I M I N A L P R A C T I C E A N D P R O C E D U R E § 59:13, at 822 (3rd ed. 2011) (“The

doctrine of the ‘law of t he case’ clear ly limit s

. . . eff orts to use hab ea s t o re l i t iga te i ssues alre ady

resolved on appea l. The direc t appea l and subs eq u en t ap plication for habea s relief are the same

‘ca se’ for purposes of this doctrine, and conseque ntly the law of the case doctrine gen er al ly bars

rec onsideration of issues of law resolved in the appea l.”) (footnotes omitted). Neither Applicant nor

t he C ourt today attempts to explain why the court of appeals’ holdi ng s with respe ct t o p ro ce d u ra l

defa ult and m at er i al i t y should not be final—at least to the extent that Applicant continues to

complain of suppre ssion of the same e vidence that formed the basis of his appellate complaint.

At the writ hear ing, defe nse counsel testified, for example, that he was g iven about an hour 1 6

to revie w the near ly 100 pag e offe nse repor t of Detec tive L eithner while sitti ng in the courtroom withTEMPL E — 11

w a s a b l e t o p u t t o s o m e g o o d u s e t h e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d i n f o r m a t i o n

, h e w a s n o t a b l e t o p u t i t t o

i t s o p t i m a l u s e

, a s h e w o u l d h a v e h a d t h e i n f o r m a t i o n b e e n r e v e a l e d t o h i m p r i o r t o t r i a l

.

D e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s h a n d i c a p p e d

, A p p l i c a n t c o n c l u d e s

, b y h a v i n g t o i n v e s t i g a t e e v e n a s h e

w a s h a v i n g t o l i t i g a t e

.

I n i t s p r o p o s e d f

i n d i n g s o f f

a c t a n d c o n c l u s i o n s o f l a w

, i n w h i c h i t h a s r e c o m m e n d e d

t h a t w e g r a n t r e l i e f o n t h e b a s i s o f B r a d y

, t h e h a b e a s c o u r t h a s l i k e w i s e l a r g e l y f a i l e d t o

d i s t i n g u i s h l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e f r o m u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e

. T h e h a b e a s c o u r t h a s 1 7

n o n e t h e l e s s c o n c l u d e d

, a l b e i t “ n o t w i t h o u t s o m e d o u b t

, ” t h a t A p p l i c a n t w a s “ d e n i e d a f a i r 1 8

t r i a l b e c a u s e o f t h e S t a t e ’ s f a i l u r e t o d i s c l o s e o r t i m e l y d i s c l o s e f a v o r a b l e e v i d e n c e ; a n d h a d

t h a t e v i d e n c e b e e n d i s c l o s e d o r d i s c l o s e d t i m e l y

, t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e t r i a l w o u l d h a v e b e e n

d i f f e r e n t

. ” F o r r e a s o n s I w i l l d e v e l o p a t s o m e l e n g t h

, I s h a r e t h e h a b e a s c o u r t ’ s d o u b t

.

U l t i m a t e l y

, t h o u g h

, w h i l e I a g r e e t h a t w e s h o u l d g r a n t A p p l i c a n t a n e w t r i a l

, I w o u l d n o t b a s e

o u r r u l i n g o n h i s B r a d

y c l a i m s

. I n s t e a d

, I w o u l d b a s e o u r h o l d i n g o n o n e o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s

c l a i m s o f i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f

c o u n s e l ( t h o u g h t h a t i n e f f e c t i v e n e s s m a y v e r y w e l l h a v e

one of the prosec utors hovering over him. Def ense counsel later introduced L eithner’ s offe nse repor t

as an exhibi t in support of his motion for co n t i n uance

, and the trial court admitted it for rec ord

purposes, so it was a

part of the appellate rec ord in the cour t of appe als.

The judge who presided o v er the writ hear ing is not the same judge who presided over 1 7

Applicant’s trial. After we fi l ed an d s et this cause for submissi on, the State filed a motion in this

Court to supplement the rec ord with an aff idavit from the judge who presided over the trial in 2007,

expressing his disag ree ment with the habea s court j u d ge’ s re comm endation that we g rant Brady

relief in this cause

. Applicant, in turn, filed a motion to strike t he S tate’s moti on. We denied both

motions on May

18, 2016.

I take this phrase verba tim from the habea s court’s finding s of fac t and conclusions of law. 1 8TEMPL E — 12

b e e n a r e g r e t t a b l e b y

- p r o d u c t o f t h e f a c t t h a t d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l w a s f

o r c e d t o

i n v e s t i g a t e

— e v e n a s h e w a s t r y i n g t o l i t i g a t e

— t h e c a s e )

.

I I

. B R A D Y

A

. T h e L e g a l S t a n d a r d

T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s S u p r e m e C o u r t h a s e x p a n d e d u p o n i t s 1 9 6 3 d e c i s i o n i n B r a d y t o

h o l d t h a t a d e f

e n d a n t s u f

f e r s a d u e p r o c e s s v i o l a t i o n i f t h e S t a t e o r o n e o f i t s s u r r o g a t e s

,

w h e t h e r w i l l f

u l l y o r n o t

, 1 ) f

a i l s t o d i s c l o s e e v i d e n c e t h a t 2 ) i s f a v o r a b l e t o t h e d e f

e n s e

( e i t h e r b e c a u s e i t i s e x c u l p a t o r y o r b e c a u s e i t i m p e a c h e s ) a n d 3 ) i s m a t e r i a l i n t h e s e n s e t h a t

,

h a d i t b e e n t i m e l y d i s c l o s e d t o t h e d e f e n s e

, t h e r e i s a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t t h e r e s u l t

o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f f e r e n t

. S t r i c k l e r v

. G r e e n e

, 5 2 7 U

. S

. 2 6 3

, 2 8 0

- 8 2

( 1 9 9 9 )

. “ R e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y ” i n t h i s c o n t e x t d o e s n o t m e a n “ t h e d e f e n d a n t w o u l d m o r e

l i k e l y t h a n n o t h a v e r e c e i v e d a d i f f e r e n t v e r d i c t w i t h t h e e v i d e n c e

, ” b u t i n s t e a d m e a n s t h a t

,

h a v i n g b e e n d e p r i v e d o f t h e e v i d e n c e

, t h e d e f e n d a n t d i d n o t r e c e i v e “ a f a i r t r i a l

, u n d e r s t o o d

a s a t r i a l r e s u l t i n g i n a v e r d i c t w o r t h y o f c o n f i d e n c e

. ” K

y l e s v

. W h i t l e y

, 5 1 4 U

. S

. 4 1 9

, 4 3 4

( 1 9 9 5 )

. I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o b e a r i n m i n d t h a t t h e m a t e r i a l i t y i n q u i r y “ i s n o t a s u f f i c i e n c y o f

e v i d e n c e t e s t

. ” I

d

. “ A d e f e n d a n t n e e d n o t d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t a f t e r d i s c o u n t i n g t h e i n c u l p a t o r y

e v i d e n c e i n l i g h t o f t h e u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e

, t h e r e w o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n e n o u g h l e f t t o

c o n v i c t

. ” I

d

. I t i s e n o u g h t o e s t a b l i s h a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y o f a d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t “ w h e n t h e

[ S t a t e ’ s ] e v i d e n t i a r y s u p p r e s s i o n ‘ u n d e r m i n e s c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e o u t c o m e o f t h e t r i a l

. ’ ” I d

.TEMPL E — 13

( c i t i n g U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. B a g l e

y

, 4 7 3 U

. S

. 6 6 7

, 6 7 8 ( 1 9 8 5 ) )

. A s p a r t o f t h i s c o n s i d e r a t i o n

, 1 9

“ t h e r e v i e w i n g c o u r t m a y c o n s i d e r d i r e c t l y a n y a d v e r s e e f f e c t t h a t t h e p r o s e c u t o r ’ s [ n o n

d i s c l o s u r e ] m i g h t h a v e h a d o n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n o r p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e d e f e n d a n t ’ s c a s e

. ”

T h o m a s v

. S t a t e

, 8 4 1 S

. W

. 2 d 3 9 9

, 4 0 5 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 2 ) ( q u o t i n g B a g l e y

, 4 7 3 U

. S

. a t

6 8 3 ( p l u r a l i t y o p i n i o n ) )

. M o r e o v e r

, m a t e r i a l i t y i s t o b e a s s e s s e d “ c o l l e c t i v e l y

, n o t i t e m b y

i t e m

. ” K y l e s

, 5 1 4 U

. S

. a t 4 3 6

.

W e h a v e s a i d t h a t

, t o c o n s t i t u t e a B r a d y v i o l a t i o n

, t h e S t a t e ’ s s u p p r e s s i o n m u s t h a v e

r e s u l t e d i n t h e d e n i a l o f e v i d e n c e t o t h e d e f

e n s e t h a t “ w o u l d h a v e b e e n a d m i s s i b l e a t t r i a l

. ”

E x p a r t e M i l e s

, 3 5 9 S

. W

. 3 d 6 4 7

, 6 6 5 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 1 2 )

. W e h a v e n o t e d

, h o w e v e r

, t h a t

“ t h e a n a l y s i s m i g h t n o t e n d t h e r e ” b e c a u s e

, a s t h e F i f t h C i r c u i t h a s h e l d

, “ i f i n a d m i s s i b l e

e v i d e n c e w o u l d g i v e r i s e t o t h e d i s c o v e r y o f o t h e r a d m i s s i b l e e v i d e n c e o r w i t n e s s e s

, t h e S t a t e

d o e s h a v e a d u t y t o d i s c l o s e t h a t e v i d e n c e

. ” I d

. a t 6 9 9 n

. 2 2 ( c i t i n g U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. B r o w n

,

6 5 0 F

. 3 d 5 8 1

, 5 8 8 ( 5 t h C i r

. 2 0 1 1 ) )

.

W e h a v e a l s o h e l d t h a t

, i f l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e “ w a s t u r n e d o v e r i n t i m e f o r t h e

d e f e n d a n t t o u s e i t i n h i s d e f e n s e

, t h e d e f

e n d a n t ’ s B r a d

y c l a i m w o u l d f

a i l

. ” L i t t l e v

. S t a t e

,

9 9 1 S

. W

. 2 d 8 6 4

, 8 6 6 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 9 )

. S o l o n g a s t h e d e f e n d a n t “ r e c e i v e d t h e

m a t e r i a l i n t i m e t o u s e i t e f f e c t i v e l y a t t r i a l

, h i s c o n v i c t i o n s h o u l d n o t b e r e v e r s e d j u s t

b e c a u s e i t w a s n o t d i s c l o s e d a s e a r l y a s i t m i g h t h a v e a n d s h o u l d h a v e b e e n

. ” I d

. ( c i t i n g

As the United States Supreme Court rec ently emphasized, under this standard, an applicant 1 9

“ca n preva il even if

. . . the undisclosed information may n ot have aff ecte d the jury ’s verdic t.”

W earry v . Cain , 136 S.Ct . 1002, 1006 n.6 (2016).TEMPL E — 14

U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. M c K i n n e

y

, 7 5 8 F

. 2 d 1 0 3 6

, 1 0 5 0 ( 5 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 9 ) )

. S e e a l s o U n i t e d S t a t e s v

.

V a l a s

, 8 2 2 F

. 3 d 2 2 8

, 2 3 7 ( 5 t h C i r

. 2 0 1 6 ) ( s a m e )

. O n d i r e c t a p p e a l i n A p p l i c a n t ’ s c a s e

, i n a n

a l t e r n a t i v e h o l d i n g t o i t s c o n c l u s i o n t h a t A p p l i c a n t p r o c e d u r a l l y d e f a u l t e d h i s B r a d

y c l a i m

,

t h e c o u r t o f a p p e a l s d e t e r m i n e d t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s a b l e t o p u t t h e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d

m a t e r i a l s t o e f

f e c t i v e u s e a t A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l

. T e m p l e

, 3 4 2 S

. W

. 3 d a t 5 9 1

- 9 2

. W e d o n o t

o r d i n a r i l y e n t e r t a i n c l a i m s i n a p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n f o r w r i t o f h a b e a s c o r p u s t h a t

w e r e p r e v i o u s l y r e s o l v e d a g a i n s t a n a p p l i c a n t o n d i r e c t a p p e a l

. E x p a r t e A c o s t a

, 6 7 2 S

. W

. 2 d

4 7 0

, 4 7 2 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 8 4 ) ; E x p a r t e B r o w n

, 2 0 5 S

. W

. 3 d 5 3 8

, 5 4 6 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

.

2 0 0 6 )

.

T h i s i s n o t t o s a y t h a t A p p l i c a n t s h o u l d n o w b e a l t o g e t h e r b a r r e d f r o m r a i s i n g a B r a d

y

c l a i m i n h i s p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n w r i t a p p l i c a t i o n

. A s i s t h e c a s e w i t h c l a i m s o f i n e f f e c t i v e

a s s i s t a n c e o f t r i a l c o u n s e l

, a h a b e a s a p p l i c a n t m a y b e a b l e t o r e

- r a i s e a B r a d y c l a i m t h a t w a s

r e j e c t e d o n d i r e c t a p p e a l i f h e c a n p r e s e n t n e w e v i d e n c e o f i t s v a l i d i t y

. C

f

. E x p a r t e N

a i l o r

,

1 4 9 S

. W

. 3 d 1 2 5

, 1 3 1 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 0 4 ) ( “ [ I ] f t h e a p p e l l a t e c o u r t r e j e c t s a c l a i m o f

i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l b e c a u s e t h e r e c o r d o n d i r e c t a p p e a l d o e s n o t c o n t a i n

s u f f i c i e n t i n f o r m a t i o n t o a d e q u a t e l y a d d r e s s a n d r e s o l v e a p a r t i c u l a r a l l e g a t i o n o f c o u n s e l ’ s

d e f i c i e n t p e r f

o r m a n c e

, t h e d e f

e n d a n t m a y r e

- u r g e c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h a t s p e c i f i c a c t o r

o m i s s i o n i n a l a t e r h a b e a s c o r p u s p r o c e e d i n g i f h e p r o v i d e s a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e t o p r o v e h i s

c l a i m

. ” ) ; E

x p a r t e B r

y a n t

, 4 4 8 S

. W

. 3 d 2 9

, 3 4

- 5 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 1 4 ) ( q u o t i n g N a i l o r a n d

a p p l y i n g i t t o h o l d t h a t t h e a p p l i c a n t c o u l d r e

- r a i s e h i s i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l c l a i mTEMPL E — 15

i n a w r i t s i n c e h e b r o u g h t n e w e v i d e n c e t o s u p p o r t i t ) ; B r o w n

, 2 0 5 S

. W

. 3 d a t 5 4 7 n

. 2 6

.

( c i t i n g N a i l o r i n s u p p o r t o f t h e C o u r t ’ s d e c i s i o n t o r e m a n d t o t h e c o n v i c t i n g c o u r t “ t o g i v e

a p p l i c a n t a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o p r e s e n t w h a t e v e r ‘ n e w ’ e v i d e n c e h e h a d i n s u p p o r t o f h i s ‘ o l d ’

a l l e g a t i o n ” o f i n e f

f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l )

.

T h u s

, A p p l i c a n t m a y p r e s e n t l y b e a b l e t o r a i s e B r a d y i n e i t h e r o r b o t h o f t w o w a y s

.

F i r s t

, i f t h e r e i s a d d i t i o n a l e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l b e y o n d t h a t w h i c h w a s

d i s c l o s e d f

o r t h e f i r s t t i m e a t h i s t r i a l

— i n s h o r t

, u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e

— t h e n o f c o u r s e

A p p l i c a n t m a y r a i s e a B r a d y c l a i m i n p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n h a b e a s p r o c e e d i n g s

, s i n c e t h i s w o u l d

e s s e n t i a l l y c o n s t i t u t e a n e w B r a d y c l a i m

. S e c o n d

, A p p l i c a n t m a y b e a b l e t o r e

- r a i s e a

2 0

p r e v i o u s B r a d

y c l a i m

. B u t t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t A p p l i c a n t c o n t i n u e s t o c o m p l a i n a b o u t t h e l a t e

d i s c l o s e d e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g e v i d e n c e t h a t w a s r e j e c t e d o n d i r e c t a p p e a l o n t h e

g r o u n d s o f i m m a t e r i a l i t y

, h e m u s t p r o d u c e a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e

— b e y o n d w h a t i s a p p a r e n t

f r o m t h e a p p e l l a t e r e c o r d

— i n o r d e r t o e s t a b l i s h i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y

. W h a t t h a t m e a n s 2 1

i s t h a t A p p l i c a n t m u s t n o w s h o w t h a t t h e r e w a s e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g v a l u e t o t h e l a t e

d i s c l o s e d i n f

o r m a t i o n b e y o n d t h a t w h i c h w o u l d h a v e b e e n a p p a r e n t t o t h e c o u r t o f a p p e a l s

f r o m t h e a p p e l l a t e r e c o r d

. A n d h e m u s t a l s o s h o w t h a t t h i s a d d i t i o n a l e x c u l p a t o r y o r

Be cause this would constitut e a new Brady claim, we would not be bound by law of the 2 0

case with respec t to the Brady claim that Applicant r aised on dire ct appe al.

Her e I am giving Applicant t he benefit of t he doubt that, if he ca n prese nt new evide nce 2 1

to show increme ntal

materia lity , he will not be bound by law of the case

, and can ma ke his claims

in post-conviction habea s corpus proc eeding s notwithstanding the c ourt of appe als’ holding s with

respe ct to proce dural de fault and ma teriality

.TEMPL E — 16

i m p e a c h i n g v a l u e w o u l d h a v e c r e a t e d a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y o f a d i f f e r e n t o u t c o m e

— e v e n

t a k i n g i n t o a c c o u n t t h e u s e s t o w h i c h d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s a b l e t o p u t t h o s e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d

m a t e r i a l s d u r i n g t h e t r i a l

. I n o t h e r w o r d s

, i n m y v i e w

, A p p l i c a n t m u s t p r e s e n t a r e c o r d i n

t h e s e h a b e a s c o r p u s p r o c e e d i n g s t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l c o u l d h a v e u s e d t h e l a t e

d i s c l o s e d m a t e r i a l s

, h a d t h e y b e e n t i m e l y d i s c l o s e d

, t o s u b s t a n t i a l l y g r e a t e r e x c u l p a t o r y o r

i m p e a c h i n g e f

f e c t a t t r i a l t h a n h e a c t u a l l y d i d

. I t i s d o u b t f u l

, i n m y o p i n i o n

, t h a t A p p l i c a n t

h a s e s t a b l i s h e d s u f

f i c i e n t i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y h e r e

.

B

. A p p l i c a n t ’ s A l l e g a t i o n s o f U n d i s c l o s e d B r a d y E v i d e n c e

M o s t o f w h a t A p p l i c a n t d e v e l o p e d a t t h e e x t e n s i v e w r i t h e a r i n g w a s a d d i t i o n a l

e v i d e n c e p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e m a t e r i a l i t y o f t h e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n t h e

v a r i o u s o f

f e n s e r e p o r t s

. B u t f

r o m m y o w n r e v i e w o f b o t h t h e t r i a l a n d w r i t r e c o r d s

, I h a v e

a l s o b e e n a b l e t o p a r s e o u t s o m e e v i d e n c e t h a t a p p e a r s n o t t o h a v e b e e n d i s c l o s e d e v e n a t

t r i a l

. N o n e o f t h i s u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e

, h o w e v e r

, s t r i k e s m e a s p a r t i c u l a r l y m o m e n t o u s

. I

s h a l l b r i e f

l y d i s c u s s t h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t e x a m p l e s t h a t I h a v e g l e a n e d f r o m t h e v o l u m i n o u s

h a b e a s r e c o r d

. 2 2

T h e S c h o o l W i t n e s s e s : A n o t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i n g o f f i c e r

, D e t e c t i v e T r a c y S h i p l e y

,

i n t e r v i e w e d s e v e r a l w i t n e s s e s a t B e l i n d a ’ s s c h o o l w i t h r e s p e c t t o c e r t a i n m a t t e r s

, i n c l u d i n g

w h a t t i m e B e l i n d a h a d l e f t t h e s c h o o l t o r e t u r n h o m e o n t h e d a y s h e w a s m u r d e r e d

. D e f e n s e

c o u n s e l w a s g i v e n a c o p y o f S h i p l e y ’ s o f f e n s e r e p o r t a t t r i a l w h i c h s u m m a r i z e d t h e s e

The discussion that follows is meant to be illustrative, not nec essar ily exhaustive. 2 2TEMPL E — 17

i n t e r v i e w s

. N o n e o f t h e s e w i t n e s s e s c o u l d s a y p r e c i s e l y w h a t t i m e B e l i n d a d r o v e o f f

. T h e

t i m i n g o f B e l i n d a ’ s d e p a r t u r e w a s c r i t i c a l

. T h e l a t e r B e l i n d a l e f t t h e s c h o o l

, t h e l a t e r s h e

w o u l d h a v e a r r i v e d

, f

i r s t a t h e r i n

- l a w s ’ h o m e t o p i c k u p s o m e h o m e m a d e s o u p

, a n d t h e n a t

h e r o w n h o m e

. T h i s w o u l d h a v e n a r r o w e d A p p l i c a n t ’ s w i n d o w o f o p p o r t u n i t y t o h a v e s t a g e d

t h e b u r g l a r y

, k i l l e d B e l i n d a

, c l e a n e d h i m s e l f u p a f t e r w a r d s f

r o m t h e i n e v i t a b l e b l o w

- b a c k

f r o m t h e s h o t g u n b l a s t

, a n d t h e n l o a d e d E T i n t o h i s t r u c k t o l e a v e t h e s c e n e

. 2 3

T h e s e w i t n e s s i n t e r v i e w s w e r e t a p e

- r e c o r d e d

, h o w e v e r

, a n d d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s n o t

m a d e a w a r e o f t h e a u d i o r e c o r d i n g s d u r i n g t r i a l

. T e l e p h o n e r e c o r d s t h a t w e r e a d m i t t e d a t t r i a l

s h o w e d t h a t B e l i n d a c a l l e d A p p l i c a n t a t a b o u t 3 : 3 0 p

. m

. A p p l i c a n t c l a i m s t h a t t h e a u d i o

r e c o r d i n g s r e v e a l t h a t t w o o f t h e s c h o o l w i t n e s s e s c o u l d e s t a b l i s h t h a t B e l i n d a w a s s t i l l i n t h e

p a r k i n g l o t o f

h e r s c h o o l w h e n s h e s p o k e t o A p p l i c a n t o n h e r p h o n e

. T h i s w a s e x c u l p a t o r y

,

A p p l i c a n t c l a i m s

, b e c a u s e i t d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t s h e h a d n o t y e t l e f t t h e s c h o o l a s l a t e a s 3 : 3 0

,

w h e n t h e p h o n e r e c o r d s s h o w e d t h a t t h i s c o n v e r s a t i o n t o o k p l a c e

.

T h e r e c o r d d o e s n o t s u p p o r t A p p l i c a n t ’ s c o n t e n t i o n

. T h e w r i t r e c o r d c o n t a i n s t h e

a c t u a l a u d i o r e c o r d i n g o f o n e o f t h e s e t w o w i t n e s s e s

, C o u r t n e y F e r g u s o n

, w h i c h I h a v e

The rec ord is unclea

r whether Applicant was wea ring the same clothes when captur ed on 2 3

the supermar

ket video that he had been wea ring ear lier in the day

, befor e Be linda could have been

shot. But there was defe nsive testimony at trial that the shotgun blast, even with the muzz le touching

the back of Be linda’s head, would have cause d some blow back and spray ed the shooter with blood.

Sheriff’ s investiga tors did not detec t blood on the cloth es Applicant was wea ring afte r Be linda’s

murder.TEMPL E — 18

l i s t e n e d t o

. F e r g u s o n d o e s n o t s a y a t a n y p o i n t i n t h e i n t e r v i e w t h a t s h e e v e r s a w B e l i n d a

2 4

t a l k i n g o n h e r p h o n e

. T h e a u d i o r e c o r d i n g o f h e r t e s t i m o n y l a c k s t h e e x c u l p a t o r y v a l u e

A p p l i c a n t a t t r i b u t e s t o i t

. T h e r e c o r d i n g o f t h e s t a t e m e n t o f t h e o t h e r w i t n e s s

, M a r g a r e t

C h r i s t e n

, i s n o t i n t h e w r i t r e c o r d

, s o I c a n n o t p r e s e n t l y t e l l w h e t h e r s h e e v e r s a i d t h a t s h e

s a w B e l i n d a o n t h e p h o n e

. A d d i t i o n a l l y

, A p p l i c a n t c l a i m s t h a t b o t h F e r g u s o n a n d C h r i s t e n 2 5

i d e n t i f i e d a t h i r d w i t n e s s

, D e n i s e L a v o r i s

, w h o w a s p r e s e n t a n d w h o ( a s t h e h a b e a s c o u r t

f i n d s ) “ w o u l d h a v e h e l p e d t h e d e f e n s e t i m e l i n e

. ” B u t t h e r e c o r d r e v e a l s n o t h i n g a b o u t w h a t

L a v o r i s m i g h t h a v e h a d t o s a y a b o u t w h e t h e r B e l i n d a w a s o n t h e p h o n e w i t h A p p l i c a n t w h i l e

s t i l l i n t h e s c h o o l p a r k i n g l o t

. I t i s t h u s p u r e s p e c u l a t i o n t o s a y t h a t s h e w o u l d h a v e b e e n

h e l p f u l t o t h e d e f

e n s e a t t r i a l

.

F B I P r o f i l e r R e p o r t : T h e h a b e a s c o u r t r e c o m m e n d s t h a t w e f i n d t h a t t h e S t a t e “ n e v e r

I n its rec ommended finding s of fac t, the habea s court calls this witness “Stacy ” Fe rg uson, 2 4

but she is identified in the off en s e repor

t and in the audio rec ording as “Courtney ” Fe rg uson.

Courtney Fe rg u s on’s recorde d interview is contained in Applicant’s Ex hibit 180—and then ag ain

in Applicant’s Exhibi t 178. See note 25, post

.

Applicant has alleg ed, and the habea s court rec ommends that we find, that Christen “saw 2 5

[Bel i n d a] t al k i ng to [Appli cant] on her cell phone betwee n 3:20 and 3:30 pm on the day of her

murder.” Fr om the citations to the writ rec ord, it appea rs that the rec ording of Christen’s interview

is supposed to be contained in Applicant’s Ex hibit 178. But this exhibi t does not contain Christen’s

interview. I nstead, it is a duplicate of the same interviews (including Fe rg uson’s) cont ai n ed i n

Applicant’s E x h i b i t 180. The Court has taken the trouble to order the orig inal exhibi ts from the

district cler

k and I have verifie d that we stil l h av e n o t been provided with the audio rec ording of

Christen’s interview. None of these witnesses testified at the writ hear ing. Thus, there is nothing in

the rec ord to substantiate the habea s court’s rec ommended finding

. At trial, Christen simply testified

that Be linda’s meeting at the school lasted until “about 3:20 to 3:30[ ,]” but Christen did not mention

Be linda making a call on her cell phone during that time, and she did not see what time Be linda left

the ca mpus.TEMPL E — 19

p r o d u c e d a n F B I r e p o r t w h i c h p r o f i l e d t h e p o s s i b l e k i l l e r

. ” I n D e c e m b e r o f 2 0 0 0

, a n F B I

p r o f i l e r p r e p a r e d a r e p o r t t h a t l i s t e d t h e l i k e l y “ o f f e n d e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ” o f t h e p e r p e t r a t o r

o f B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

. A p p l i c a n t n o w a r g u e s t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l c o u l d h a v e u s e d t h i s F B I

r e p o r t t o b o l s t e r h i s f

i n a l a r g u m e n t a t t r i a l t h a t R J S w a s a t l e a s t a s l i k e l y a s u s p e c t a s

A p p l i c a n t w a s b e c a u s e R J S b e t t e r f i t t h e F B I p r o f

i l e

. H o w e v e r

, a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g t h e S t a t e

i n t r o d u c e d a t r a n s c r i p t

, g l e a n e d f r o m d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s o w n c a s e f i l e

, o f a t e l e p h o n e

c o n v e r s a t i o n b e t w e e n d e f e n s e c o u n s e l a n d t h e p r o s e c u t o r t h a t o c c u r r e d m o r e t h a n t w o

- a n d

- a

h a l f y e a r s b e f

o r e t r i a l

. I n t h i s p h o n e c o n v e r s a t i o n

, t h e p r o s e c u t o r a l l u d e d t o t h e F B I p r o f i l e

r e p o r t a n d o f

f e r e d d e f e n s e c o u n s e l a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o r e v i e w i t

. W h i l e t h e w r i t r e c o r d d o e s

n o t s h o w w h e t h e r d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l t o o k h e r u p o n t h i s o f f e r

, t h e p h o n e c o n v e r s a t i o n b e l i e s

a n y c l a i m t h a t t h e F B I p r o f i l e r e p o r t w a s s u p p r e s s e d

. T h e r e c o r d d o e s n o t s u p p o r t t h e h a b e a s

c o u r t ’ s r e c o m m e n d e d f

i n d i n g

.

R J S ’ s J u v e n i l e P r o b a t i o n S t a t u s : D u r i n g t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

, b o t h d e f e n s e c o u n s e l a n d

o n e o f h i s a s s o c i a t e s w h o s a t s e c o n d c h a i r d u r i n g A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l c o m p l a i n e d t h a t t h e y w e r e

n e v e r t o l d b e f

o r e o r d u r i n g t r i a l t h a t R J S w a s o n j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n w h e n B e l i n d a w a s

m u r d e r e d

. D e f

e n s e c o u n s e l m a i n t a i n e d t h a t h e c o u l d h a v e u s e d t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n t o b o l s t e r

h i s a r g u m e n t a t t r i a l t h a t R J S h a d a m o t i v e t o m u r d e r B e l i n d a

— t o a v o i d h a v i n g h i s p r o b a t i o n

r e v o k e d

. A H a r r i s C o u n t y a p p e l l a t e p r o s e c u t o r c o n f i r m e d d u r i n g h i s w r i t

- h e a r i n g t e s t i m o n yTEMPL E — 20

t h a t R J S w a s o n j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n a t t h e t i m e o f t h e o f f e n s e

. E v e n s o

, A p p l i c a n t d o e s n o t 2 6

n o w a r g u e

, n o r d i d t h e h a b e a s c o u r t r e c o m m e n d t h a t w e f i n d

, t h a t R J S ’ s s t a t u s a s a j u v e n i l e

p r o b a t i o n e r a t t h e t i m e o f t h e o f f e n s e c o n s t i t u t e s u n d i s c l o s e d B r a d y e v i d e n c e

.

T h e r e c o r d d o e s n o t r e v e a l w h y R J S w a s o n j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n

. I n 1 9 9 9

, a s n o w

, i f

R J S w a s o n j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n f o r n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n s i m p l e t r u a n c y

, t h e n t h e f a c t t h a t

B e l i n d a c o u l d r e p o r t h i m t o t h e j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n a u t h o r i t i e s f o r c o n t i n u i n g t o s k i p s c h o o l

c o u l d n o t p o s s i b l y r e s u l t i n h i s b e i n g c o m m i t t e d t o t h e T e x a s Y o u t h C o m m i s s i o n

. S e e T E X

.

F A M

. C O D E § § 5 1

. 0 3 ( b ) ( 2 )

, 5 4

. 0 5 ( g ) ( “ a d i s p o s i t i o n b a s e d s o l e l y o n a f i n d i n g t h a t t h e c h i l d

e n g a g e d i n c o n d u c t i n d i c a t i n g a n e e d f o r s u p e r v i s i o n [ w h i c h i n c l u d e s t r u a n t b e h a v i o r

, a s

o p p o s e d t o a d i s p o s i t i o n b a s e d o n a f i n d i n g t h a t t h e c h i l d e n g a g e d i n “ d e l i n q u e n t c o n d u c t ” ]

m a y n o t b e m o d i f

i e d t o c o m m i t t h e c h i l d t o t h e T e x a s Y o u t h C o m m i s s i o n

. ” )

. I n s h o r t

, i t i s

u n c l e a r w h e t h e r R J S ’ s j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n c o u l d a c t u a l l y b e r e v o k e d

, a s d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s

c o m p l a i n t s a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g p r e s u m e

. T h u s

, t h e p r e s e n t r e c o r d d o e s n o t r e v e a l t h a t R J S ’ s

s t a t u s a s a j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n e r w o u l d h a v e p r o v i d e d h i m w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r l y c o m p e l l i n g

During questioning by one of the prosec utors at the writ hear ing, the head of the appellate 2 6

section in the Har

ris County District Attorney ’s Offic e, who persona lly handled Applicant’s direc t

appea l, acknowle dg ed as f ollows:

Q. Essentially

, y ou wouldn’t disag ree that [defense counsel] knew that [R J S]

was a juvenile delinquent?

A. Yes.

Q. For heave ns sake, he was on juvenile pr obation, rig ht?

A. Yes.TEMPL E — 21

m o t i v e t o c o m m i t m u r d e r

, m u c h l e s s t h a t h e s u b j e c t i v e l y b e l i e v e d o t h e r w i s e

. U n d e r t h e s e

c i r c u m s t a n c e s

, I w o u l d n o t

, s u a s p o n t e

, f a s h i o n a n a r g u m e n t t h a t R J S ’ s j u v e n i l e p r o b a t i o n a r y

s t a t u s c o n s t i t u t e d f

a v o r a b l e

— a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y

, m a t e r i a l

— e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g

e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e S t a t e s u p p r e s s e d

.

T h e W r i t t e n S t a t e m e n t s o f t h e S o

- C a l l e d “ K a t y B o y s ” : A t t r i a l

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l

o b t a i n e d R J S ’ s t w o w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t s t o t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r s a s w e l l a s R J S ’ s g r a n d j u r y

t e s t i m o n y p r i o r t o q u e s t i o n i n g R J S o n c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n

. H e w a s a l s o s h o w n t h e o f f e n s e

r e p o r t s o f t h e p a r t i c u l a r d e t e c t i v e s w h o t e s t i f i e d a t t r i a l

, w h i c h d o c u m e n t e d s o m e

, b u t n o t a l l

,

o f t h e o r a l s t a t e m e n t s R J S m a d e o v e r t h e c o u r s e o f t h e i r i n v e s t i g a t i o n

. T h o s e s a m e o f f e n s e

r e p o r t s d o c u m e n t e d o r a l s t a t e m e n t s m a d e b y m a n y o f t h e s o

- c a l l e d “ K a t y B o y s

, ” a g r o u p o f

t e e n a g e c o n t e m p o r a r i e s o f R J S w h o w e r e i n v e s t i g a t e d t o s o m e e x t e n t

, m o s t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e i r

r e l a t i o n s h i p t o R J S h i m s e l f

. B u t b e c a u s e n o n e o f t h e K a t y B o y s t e s t i f i e d a t t r i a l

, n o n e o f 2 7

t h e i r w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t s o r g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y w a s t u r n e d o v e r t o t h e d e f e n s e p r i o r t o o r

d u r i n g t r i a l

. A p p l i c a n t c o m p l a i n s o f t h e n o n

- d i s c l o s u r e o f t w o o f R J S ’ s o r a l s t a t e m e n t s a n d

a l l o f t h e w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t s a n d g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y o f t h e K a t y B o y s

. T h e g i s t o f h i s 2 8

a r g u m e n t i s t h a t

, h a d t h e S t a t e p r o v i d e d h i m w i t h a l l o f t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n

, h e w o u l d h a v e b e e n

“The Katy Boy s” was the name the prosecutor gave to RJ S’s teena g e co n t em p o raries in 2 7

her te stimony

at the wr it hearing . Def

ense c ounsel had a

nother, less polite, term f or them.

Sheriff’ s investiga tors obtained written statements from CT, MG

, CE, CC, and J P. I find 2 8

no written statement from CG in the writ rec ord. CT and MG testified befor e the g rand jury in April

of 1999.TEMPL E — 22

s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t t e r e q u i p p e d t o d e v e l o p a n d p r e s e n t h i s t h e o r y a t t r i a l t h a t i t w a s R J S

, a n d

p e r h a p s t w o o f h i s c o h o r t s

, C T a n d M G

, w h o c o m m i t t e d t h e o f f e n s e

.

I t i s u n c l e a r t o m e

, h o w e v e r

, t h a t t h e v a r i o u s u n d i s c l o s e d s t a t e m e n t s a n d g r a n d j u r y

t e s t i m o n y s u p p l i e s s i g n i f i c a n t m a t e r i a l i t y

. I t i s t r u e t h a t t h e r e a r e s o m e i n c o n s i s t e n c i e s a m o n g

t h e v a r i o u s s t a t e m e n t s

. B u t n o n e o f t h e K a t y B o y s ( o t h e r t h a n R J S ) t e s t i f i e d a t t r i a l

, a n d s o

d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w o u l d h a v e h a d n o o c c a s i o n t o u s e t h e i n c o n s i s t e n c i e s a m o n g t h e i r

s t a t e m e n t s t o i m p e a c h t h e m

. T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t t h e v a r i o u s s t a t e m e n t s c o u l d h a v e a i d e d 2 9

d e f e n s e c o u n s e l i n p i e c i n g t o g e t h e r a n d p r e s e n t i n g h i s a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t t h e o r y

, I a m n o t

i n c l i n e d t o b e l i e v e i t w o u l d u l t i m a t e l y h a v e m a d e m u c h d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e e y e s o f t h e j u r y

, f o r

r e a s o n s I w i l l e x p a n d u p o n n e x t i n m y d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e H & R s h o t g u n

.

T h e R e c o v e r y o f t h e H & R S h o t g u n : A w e e k o r s o b e f o r e B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

, s e v e r a l

o f t h e K a t y B o y s b u r g l a r i z e d a h o m e b e l o n g i n g t o t h e b o y f r i e n d o f C G ’ s m o t h e r

. I g l e a n t h e

f o l l o w i n g f

a c t s f r o m t h e i r v a r i o u s s t a t e m e n t s

. P a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e b u r g l a r y w e r e C G

, C C

, a n d

C E

. S e v e r a l 1 2

- g a u g e s h o t g u n s w e r e t a k e n d u r i n g t h i s b u r g l a r y

, t h o u g h n o n e w a s s h o w n t o

b e t h e m u r d e r w e a p o n

. S e v e r a l d a y s l a t e r

, t h e y t o o k t h e s h o t g u n s o u t t o s h o o t t h e m a n d

i n v i t e d R J S t o j o i n t h e m

. R J S p u r l o i n e d h i s f a t h e r ’ s H & R s h o t g u n a n d j o i n e d t h e m o n t h e i r

s h o o t i n g e x c u r s i o n

. A f

t e r w a r d s

, C E d r o p p e d R J S o f f a t a c a r s t e r e o b u s i n e s s w h e r e R J S w a s

t o m e e t h i s f

a t h e r

. B e c a u s e R J S d i d n o t w a n t h i s f a t h e r t o k n o w h e h a d t a k e n t h e H & R

Moreove r, it is doubtful that would have elec ted to call any of the Katy Boy s to the stand 2 9

himself simply

in order to impea ch them.TEMPL E — 23

s h o t g u n

, h e l e f

t i t w i t h C E

, w h o t o o k i t h o m e a n d a p p a r e n t l y h i d i t u n d e r h i s b e d

. 3 0

O n t h e d a y o f B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

, R J S a n d C E s k i p p e d t h e i r l a s t c l a s s a n d l e f t s c h o o l

.

T h e y b r i e f

l y d r o p p e d b y R J S ’ s h o u s e

, a n d t h e n R J S d r o v e C E h o m e

. R J S r e t u r n e d t o h i s o w n

h o m e a n d c a l l e d C T a n d M G

, w h o c a m e o v e r

. A c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r v a r i o u s a c c o u n t s

, t h e s e

t h r e e t h e n d r o v e d o w n t h e s t r e e t t o t h e h o u s e o f a n o t h e r a c q u a i n t a n c e t o t r y t o o b t a i n

m a r i j u a n a

, t h e n d r o v e b a c k t o R J S ’ s h o u s e

. F r o m t h e r e

, t h e y d r o v e t o a c o n v e n i e n c e s t o r e

f o r c i g a r e t t e s

, t h e n b a c k o n c e m o r e t o R J S ’ s r e s i d e n c e

. M G a n d C T d r o p p e d R J S o f f s o t h a t

M G c o u l d g o p i c k u p h i s m o t h e r f r o m w o r k

. R J S c l a i m s h e t h e n f e l l a s l e e p o n t h e c o u c h

, 3 1

t o b e a w a k e n e d b y h i s f a t h e r a t a b o u t 6 p

. m

. , b y w h i c h t i m e e m e r g e n c y p e r s o n n e l a n d l o c a l

c o n s t a b l e s w e r e o n t h e s c e n e

.

T h r e e w e e k s l a t e r

, a t t h e e n d o f J a n u a r y

, t h e H & R s h o t g u n w a s r e c o v e r e d

. A t t r i a l

,

t h e t e s t i m o n y o f b o t h D e t e c t i v e L e i t h n e r a n d D e t e c t i v e M a r k S c h m i d t b o t h t e n d e d t o s u g g e s t

t h a t i t w a s r e c o v e r e d f

r o m R J S ’ s r e s i d e n c e a f e w w e e k s a f

t e r t h e m u r d e r

. O n e o f t h e o f f e n s e

r e p o r t s t h a t d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l r e v i e w e d d u r i n g t r i a l i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e H & R s h o t g u n w a s

r e c o v e r e d b y a D e p u t y R a m o n H e r n a n d e z ; b u t t h i s o f f e n s e r e p o r t d o e s n o t s a y w h e r e

, o r f r o m

Def ense counsel knew about the burg lary of the home of the boy friend of CG’s mother 3 0

prior to trial, having obtained an offe nse report of t hat offense in advanc e of trial. I t wa s n o t until

revie wing the offe nse repor ts perta ining to Be linda’s murder at trial, howeve r, that defe nse counsel

lear ned that RJ S had joined the Katy Boy s in their shotgun- shooting excursion day s befor e Be linda’s

murder. H e questioned RJS about this event during his cross-e x amination of RJ S at trial.

There is some dis cre pancy among st the various statements with respe ct to the order of these 3 1

events, but none is inconsistent with RJ S’s claim that he was home by about 4:30 p.m. Def ense

co unsel was awa

re of at least the g ener al outline of this narr ative from the offe nse repor ts h e

revie wed a t trial.TEMPL E — 24

w h o m

, H e r n a n d e z r e c o v e r e d i t

. H e r n a n d e z ’ s o w n s u p p l e m e n t a l o f f e n s e r e p o r t r e c o u n t i n g h i s

r e c o v e r y o f t h e H & R s h o t g u n

, i f i t e v e r e x i s t e d a t a l l

, s e e m s t o h a v e g o n e m i s s i n g

. 3 2

H e r n a n d e z t e s t i f

i e d a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

, b u t b y t h a t t i m e h e c o u l d n o t r e m e m b e r f r o m w h o m

h e r e c o v e r e d t h e s h o t g u n i n t h e a b s e n c e o f a s u p p l e m e n t a l o f f e n s e r e p o r t d o c u m e n t i n g i t s

r e c o v e r y

. T h e m y s t e r y w a s a p p a r e n t l y s o l v e d i n 2 0 1 2 w h e n ( i n r e s p o n s e t o A p p l i c a n t ’ s

b u d d i n g a c t u a l i n n o c e n c e c l a i m ) o n e o f t h e s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s

, D e t e c t i v e H o l t k e

, r e

i n t e r v i e w e d C E

. C E t o l d H o l t k e t h a t H e r n a n d e z h a d r e c o v e r e d t h e H & R s h o t g u n f r o m h i m

.

I n n o n e o f C E ’ s p r e v i o u s s t a t e m e n t s t o i n v e s t i g a t o r s h a d h e i n d i c a t e d t h a t h e h a d e v e r t a k e n

p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e H & R s h o t g u n

.

A p p l i c a n t m a k e s m u c h o f t h e f a c t t h a t i t w a s n e v e r r e v e a l e d t o h i m a t t r i a l f r o m w h o m

o r w h e r e H e r n a n d e z r e c o v e r e d t h e H & R s h o t g u n

. I n i t s r e c o m m e n d e d f i n d i n g s o f f

a c t

, t h e

h a b e a s c o u r t c o n c l u d e s t h a t H e r n a n d e z ’ s s u p p l e m e n t a l o f f e n s e r e p o r t w a s “ l o s t

, d e s t r o y e d

,

o r n e v e r p r e p a r e d

, ” a n d o b s e r v e s t h a t t h e s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s f

a i l e d t o q u e s t i o n C E d u r i n g

t h e i r i n i t i a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n “ a b o u t h i s h i d i n g t h e H & R s h o t g u n

. ” I f a i l t o p e r c e i v e h o w t h i s

n o n

- d i s c l o s u r e o f i n f

o r m a t i o n p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e r e c o v e r y o f t h e H & R s h o t g u n d e p r i v e d

A p p l i c a n t o f f

a v o r a b l e

— m u c h l e s s m a t e r i a l

— e v i d e n c e

. T h a t A p p l i c a n t ’ s j u r y m a y h a v e

g o t t e n t h e f

a l s e i m p r e s s i o n t h a t t h e H & R s h o t g u n w a s r e c o v e r e d f r o m R J S ’ s h o u s e h o l d

s e e m s t o m e t o h a v e m i l i t a t e d t o A p p l i c a n t ’ s b e n e f i t a t t r i a l

, s i n c e i t w o u l d h a v e p l a c e d t h e

Nobody at t he writ hear ing, inc luding He rnande z him self, could say for sure t hat he had 3 2

actua lly prepa red suc h a supplement, but all ag ree d that, assuming he did, it has been lost.TEMPL E — 25

s h o t g u n w i t h i n e a s y r e a c h f o r R J S t o u s e i n m u r d e r i n g B e l i n d a

. I n s t e a d

, A p p l i c a n t s p i n s a n

u n l i k e l y s c e n a r i o i n w h i c h h e c o n t e n d s t h a t h e c o u l d h a v e p e r s u a d e d t h e j u r y

, h a d t h e t r u t h

b e e n t i m e l y r e v e a l e d

, t h a t R J S t o o k C E h o m e f r o m s c h o o l o n t h e d a y o f t h e m u r d e r

, r e t r i e v e d

t h e s h o t g u n f

r o m C E a t t h a t t i m e

, b u t t h e n l a t e r r e t u r n e d t h e s h o t g u n t o C E

— t o p u t b a c k

u n d e r C E ’ s b e d

— a f

t e r R J S u s e d i t t o k i l l B e l i n d a

. T h e r e i s n o e v i d e n c e i n e i t h e r t h e t r i a l

r e c o r d o r t h e w r i t r e c o r d t o s u p p o r t t h i s t h e o r y

.

M o s t o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s p r e s e n t a r g u m e n t s f o r h o w h e c o u l d h a v e u s e d t h e v a r i o u s

u n d i s c l o s e d s t a t e m e n t s o f R J S a n d t h e K a t y B o y s u l t i m a t e l y t u r n o n t h e j u r y a c c e p t i n g t h i s

d u b i o u s p r o p o s i t i o n

— t h a t R J S r e t r i e v e d t h e H & R s h o t g u n f r o m C E

, u s e d i t ( p e r h a p s w i t h

t h e h e l p o f C T a n d M G ) t o k i l l B e l i n d a

, a n d t h e n r e t u r n e d i t t o C E f

o r s a f e k e e p i n g

. I d o u b t

t h a t d i s c l o s u r e o f e i t h e r 1 ) t h e v a r i o u s s t a t e m e n t s a n d t e s t i m o n i e s o f t h e K a t y B o y s

, o r 2 ) t h e

l o c a t i o n o f t h e H & R s h o t g u n w h e n i t w a s r e c o v e r e d w o u l d h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y e n h a n c e d

d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s a b i l i t y t o p e r s u a d e t h e j u r y t h a t R J S r a t h e r t h a n A p p l i c a n t w a s r e s p o n s i b l e

f o r B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

. W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e l a t t e r

, i t m i g h t e v e n h a v e d e t r a c t e d

.

J o e S o s a ’ s I n f

o r m a t i o n : T h r e e w e e k s a f t e r B e l i n d a w a s k i l l e d

, o n F e b r u a r y 4

, 1 9 9 9

,

D e t e c t i v e S c h m i d t r e t u r n e d a t e l e p h o n e c a l l f r o m J o e S o s a

, a s p e c i a l e d u c a t i o n t e a c h e r a t

K a t y H i g h S c h o o l

. S o s a t o l d S c h m i d t

, a m o n g o t h e r t h i n g s

, t h a t C T h a d t o l d S o s a t h a t C T h a d

b e e n “ i n [ R J S ’ s ] h o m e t h e n i g h t o f t h e h o m i c i d e a l o n g w i t h [ M G

, ] ” a n d t h a t C T h a d m i s s e d

s c h o o l t h e n e x t d a y

. S o s a a l s o t o l d S c h m i d t t h a t

, a t s o m e u n d i s c l o s e d t i m e

, M G “ h a d m a d eTEMPL E — 26

a c o m m e n t t h a t i f y o u p u t a p i l l o w u p t o a s h o t g u n i t w i l l m u f f l e t h e s o u n d

. ” T h i s 3 3

i n f o r m a t i o n a p p e a r s i n a s u p p l e m e n t a l o f f e n s e r e p o r t a t t r i b u t e d t o S c h m i d t t h a t w a s r a n d o m l y

a t t a c h e d t o t h e s u p p l e m e n t a l r e p o r t o f a n o t h e r o f f i c e r

, a n d

, u n l i k e S c h m i d t ’ s o t h e r

s u p p l e m e n t s

, i t i s n o t n u m b e r e d

. I a m f r a n k l y u n a b l e t o t e l l w h e t h e r d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s

a w a r e o f i t d u r i n g t r i a l

. S c h m i d t t e s t i f i e d a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g t h a t h e c o n d u c t e d n o f o l l o w

- u p

i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h i s i n f

o r m a t i o n t h a t h e h a d o b t a i n e d f r o m S o s a

. H a d d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l k n o w n

o f i t b e f o r e t r i a l

, h e c o u l d h a v e i n t e r v i e w e d S o s a t o t r y t o p u t t h e s e s t a t e m e n t s o f C T a n d M G

i n c o n t e x t

. T h e r e c o r d d o e s n o t r e v e a l w h a t m o r e S o s a m i g h t h a v e b e e n a b l e t o s a y

.

J o e C a d e n a ’ s S t a t e m e n t : D e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s n e v e r g i v e n a c c e s s t o a n o f f e n s e

r e p o r t t h a t d o c u m e n t e d t h e s t a t e m e n t o f a n a c r o s s

- t h e

- s t r e e t n e i g h b o r

, J o e C a d e n a

, w h o t o l d

i n v e s t i g a t o r s o n J a n u a r y 2 5

, 1 9 9 9

, t h a t h e h a d h e a r d w h a t h e t o o k t o b e a t r u c k b a c k f i r i n g a t

a b o u t 4 : 3 0 p

. m

. o n t h e d a y o f B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

. T h e h a b e a s c o u r t m e n t i o n s t h i s u n d i s c l o s e d 3 4

i n f o r m a t i o n i n i t s r e c o m m e n d e d f i n d i n g s a s w e l l

. B u t t h e r e c o r d a l s o r e v e a l s t h a t d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l w a s g i v e n a c c e s s t o a d i f f e r e n t o f f e n s e r e p o r t d u r i n g t r i a l t h a t r e c o r d e d a n e a r l i e r

s t a t e m e n t t h a t C a d e n a h a d g i v e n t o c a n v a s s i n g o f f i c e r s o n t h e n i g h t o f t h e m u r d e r

. I n t h a t

e a r l i e r s t a t e m e n t

, C a d e n a a s s e r t e d t h a t

, s o m e t i m e b e t w e e n 4 : 3 0 a n d 5 : 3 0 p

. m

. , h e a c t u a l l y

There was no fore nsic evidenc e at trial to sug g est that a pillow was used to muffle the shot 3 3

that killed Be linda.

I t was shown at trial that sever al y oung boy s who lived behind the Temple residenc e had 3 4

hear d what could have been a g unshot at around 4:30, at a time when Applicant must have been on

his way to the supermar

ket. As the State hy

pothesized during the writ hear ing, it is possible to arg ue

that the boy s hear d the same ba ckfire that Cadena thought he hear d.TEMPL E — 27

h e a r d t w o b a c k f

i r e s

, w h i c h h e a t t r i b u t e d t o a p a r t i c u l a r t r u c k t h a t h e o b s e r v e d o n t h e s t r e e t

. 3 5

A l t h o u g h d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s p o k e w i t h C a d e n a d u r i n g t r i a l

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l d i d

n o t s u b p o e n a C a d e n a t o t e s t i f y

.

C

. I n c r e m e n t a l M a t e r i a l i t y o f t h e L a t e

- D i s c l o s e d E v i d e n c e

P e r h a p s m a r g i n a l l y m o r e c o n v i n c i n g a r e A p p l i c a n t ’ s a r g u m e n t s t h a t d i s c l o s u r e o f

m u c h o f t h e m a t e r i a l s t h a t t h e S t a t e r e v e a l e d t o d e f e n s e c o u n s e l f

o r t h e f i r s t t i m e d u r i n g t r i a l

c o u l d h a v e b e e n u s e d t o s u b s t a n t i a l l y g r e a t e r e f f e c t h a d t h e y b e e n t i m e l y d i s c l o s e d p r i o r t o

t r i a l

. S o m e o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s c l a i m s i n t h i s r e g a r d a r e m o r e c o m p e l l i n g t h a n o t h e r s

. I s h a l l

h i g h l i g h t t h e m o s t p e r t i n e n t e x a m p l e s o f t h i s c a t e g o r y a s w e l l

. 3 6

T h e K a t y B o y s ’ F a i l e d P o l y g r a p h s : T h e K a t y B o y s w e r e q u e s t i o n e d m o r e t h a n o n c e

b y s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s a n d g a v e s o m e o r a l s t a t e m e n t s i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e i r u n d i s c l o s e d

w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t s

. A s t h e h a b e a s c o u r t n o t e s i n i t s r e c o m m e n d e d f i n d i n g s

, m a n y o f t h e m

,

i n c l u d i n g C E

, C T

, a n d M G

, w e r e s u b j e c t e d t o m u l t i p l e p o l y g r a p h e x a m i n a t i o n s

, w h i c h t h e y

a l m o s t u n i f

o r m l y f a i l e d

. D e f

e n s e c o u n s e l l e a r n e d o f t h e s e f a c t s w h e n h e r e v i e w e d t h e o f f e n s e

r e p o r t s d u r i n g t r i a l

. B u t t h e t r i a l c o u r t r e f u s e d t o a l l o w d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l t o e l i c i t a n y e v i d e n c e

w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e p o l y g r a p h t e s t i n g o r r e s u l t s b e f o r e t h e j u r y

, a n d a l t h o u g h d e f e n s e c o u n s e l

c o m p l a i n e d b i t t e r l y o f t h i s l i m i t a t i o n a t t r i a l

, A p p l i c a n t d i d n o t c h a l l e n g e t h e e x c l u s i o n o f t h e

p o l y g r a p h e v i d e n c e a s a n i s s u e i n h i s d i r e c t a p p e a l

. I n a n y e v e n t

, i t i s f a r f r o m c l e a r t h a t t h e

There is no evidence that the shotg un that killed Be linda was fir ed a se cond time. 3 5

Ag ain, the discussion that follows is not ex haustive. 3 6TEMPL E — 28

p o l y g r a p h e v i d e n c e w a s a d m i s s i b l e u n d e r T e x a s l a w

, o r t h a t i t w o u l d h a v e l e a d t o 3 7

a d m i s s i b l e e v i d e n c e t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w o u l d n o t o t h e r w i s e h a v e b e e n a l e r t e d t o

i n v e s t i g a t e b y t h e o f

f e n s e r e p o r t s

. F o r t h i s r e a s o n

, i f n o o t h e r

, I c a n n o t s a y t h a t t h e S t a t e ’ s

l a t e

- d i s c l o s u r e o f t h e p o l y g r a p h e v i d e n c e c o n s t i t u t e d a v i o l a t i o n o f B r a d y

.

T h e P a r k e r s ’ D o g : J i m a n d C y n t h i a P a r k e r l i v e d i n a h o u s e t h a t w a s c a t t y

- c o r n e r t o

t h e T e m p l e ’ s p r o p e r t y

, d i v i d e d f r o m i t b y a f

e n c e

. D e f

e n s e c o u n s e l d i d n o t l e a r n u n t i l h e

r e v i e w e d t h e o f

f e n s e r e p o r t s a t t r i a l t h a t a p o l i c e c a n v a s s h a d d i s c l o s e d t h a t t h e P a r k e r ’ s d o g

h a d b a r k e d e x c i t e d l y a t t h e d i v i d i n g f e n c e a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 4 : 3 0 p

. m

. o n t h e d a y o f B e l i n d a ’ s

m u r d e r

— a t i m e t h a t c o i n c i d e s w i t h h i s d e f e n s i v e t h e o r y f

o r w h e n t h e b r e a k

- i n a n d m u r d e r

o c c u r r e d ( A p p l i c a n t h a v i n g b e e n a t t h e s u p e r m a r k e t a t a b o u t t h i s t i m e )

. O n c e d e f e n s e 3 8

c o u n s e l d i d l e a r n a b o u t t h i s e v i d e n c e

, h o w e v e r

, h e i n t e r v i e w e d t h e P a r k e r s o n e e v e n i n g

d u r i n g t h e t r i a l a n d t h e n s u b p o e n a e d t h e m

, a n d t h e y t e s t i f i e d f o r t h e d e f

e n s e a t t r i a l

. T h e

h a b e a s c o u r t r e c o m m e n d s t h a t w e f i n d d e f e n s e c o u n s e l d i d n o t o b t a i n t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n u n t i l

t r i a l h a d c o m m e n c e d

. T h e r e c o r d s u b s t a n t i a t e s t h i s f i n d i n g

, b u t i t m a k e s n o d i f f e r e n c e

b e c a u s e A p p l i c a n t c a n n o t s h o w t h a t h e s u f f e r e d a n y d i s a d v a n t a g e f

r o m t h e S t a t e ’ s f

a i l u r e t o

d i v u l g e t h i s i n f

o r m a t i o n p r i o r t o t r i a l

.

See Ex parte Bryant

, 448 S.W .3d 29, 40 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (“Poly g raph evidenc e is 3 7

g ener ally excluded from courtrooms beca use the reliability of such tests rema ins unprov e n a n d ju r ors

could attach undue cre dibilit y to a test that p u rports to sort truth from fiction, a role for which a

fac tfinder is more proper ly suited.”) (citing Leonard v. State

, 385 S.W .3d 570, 577 (Tex. Crim. App.

2012) (“[W] e have not once wave red from the proposition that the results of poly g raph examinations

are inadmissible over prope r objec tion because the tests are unreliable .”))

.

See note 34, ante

. 3 8TEMPL E — 29

S h a k a ’ s “ A c c e s s ” t o t h e G a r a g e : T h e h a b e a s c o u r t a l s o f i n d s t h a t d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l

d i d n o t l e a r n a b o u t t h r e e o t h e r p o t e n t i a l w i t n e s s e s u n t i l h e r e v i e w e d t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s a t

t r i a l

, a l l t h r e e o f w h o m c o u l d h a v e t e s t i f i e d t h a t S h a k a

, t h e T e m p l e f a m i l y ’ s c h o w

, o r d i n a r i l y

“ h a d a c c e s s t o t h e g a r a g e

. ” O t h e r w i t n e s s e s d i d t e s t i f y t o t h i s f a c t a t t r i a l

, h o w e v e r

. A n d i n 3 9

a n y e v e n t

, t h e f

a c t t h a t S h a k a h a d “ a c c e s s ” t o t h e g a r a g e d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y e s t a b l i s h t h a t

h e w a s i n t h e g a r a g e a t t h e t i m e t h a t B e l i n d a w a s k i l l e d

, a n d t h e r e f o r e c o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n

e x p e c t e d t o b a r k a t a n y i n t r u d e r s

. T h e t e s t i m o n y o f t h e s e t h r e e a d d i t i o n a l w i t n e s s e s w o u l d

h a v e a d d e d o n l y q u i t e m o d e s t l y t o a n y i n f e r e n c e f a v o r a b l e t o t h e d e f

e n s e

, a n d n o t e n o u g h t o

e s t a b l i s h a n y s i g n i f

i c a n t i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y

.

A p p l i c a n t ’ s E m o t i o n a l R e s p o n s e : T h e h a b e a s c o u r t r e c o m m e n d s a f i n d i n g t h a t t h e

l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d o f

f e n s e r e p o r t s a l s o r e v e a l e d t w o w i t n e s s e s w h o c o u l d h a v e a t t e s t e d t h a t

A p p l i c a n t r e a c t e d e m o t i o n a l l y a t t h e s c e n e t o B e l i n d a ’ s d e a t h

, s o b b i n g w i t h h i s h e a d i n h i s

h a n d s a n d a p p e a r i n g w e a k

- k n e e d

. H a d h e l e a r n e d o f t h e a d d i t i o n a l w i t n e s s e s e a r l i e r

, d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l m a y h a v e h a d t i m e t o i n t e r v i e w t h e m a n d t o s u b p o e n a t h e m f o r t r i a l

. O t h e r w i t n e s s e s

d i d t e s t i f y a t t r i a l t o A p p l i c a n t ’ s a p p a r e n t e m o t i o n a l r e s p o n s e

, h o w e v e r

, t o c o u n t e r a c t t h e

t e s t i m o n y o f s h e r i f

f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s w h o c o n v e y e d t o t h e j u r y t h e i r i m p r e s s i o n s t h a t A p p l i c a n t

s e e m e d e m o t i o n l e s s a t t h e s c e n e

. O n e o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s b r o t h e r s t e s t i f i e d a t t r i a l t h a t A p p l i c a n t

For example, Michae l Rugg iero, a neig hbor who lived acr oss the street from the Temples, 3 9

testified that t h e l atch on their back g ate was not catc hing proper ly

, and that the Temples would

therefo re k ee p Shaka in the gar ag e so he could not g et out

. His wife, Pegg y

, testified t hat s he had

observe d Be linda arr iving home on occa sion and pull ing into the garage

. Be linda would honk the

horn once the g ara g e door ha d opened to sig nal for Shaka to move out of the wa

y

.TEMPL E — 30

a p p e a r e d t o b e i n s h o c k

. H i s m o t h e r t e s t i f i e d t h a t h e h a d a p p a r e n t l y b e e n c r y i n g

. L a t e r

, s h e

m a i n t a i n e d

, a f

t e r h e w a s i n t e r r o g a t e d b y s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s a n d a l l o w e d t o l e a v e

,

A p p l i c a n t w a s “ c o m p l e t e l y d i s t r a u g h t a n d b r o k e n

. ” B u t t h e s e w e r e f a m i l y m e m b e r s

, w h o s e

t e s t i m o n y c o u l d h a v e b e e n d i s c o u n t e d b y t h e j u r y a s s e l f

- s e r v i n g

. T e s t i m o n y o f

n o n

- f a m i l y

w i t n e s s e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o A p p l i c a n t ’ s d e m e a n o r w a s f a v o r a b l e t o t h e d e f

e n s e a n d d e f

e n s e

c o u n s e l ’ s f

a i l u r e t o r e c o g n i z e t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e a d d s m a r g i n a l l y t o t h e i n c r e m e n t a l

m a t e r i a l i t y

.

R J S ’ s G i r l f

r i e n d : A l t h o u g h t h e h a b e a s c o u r t d o e s n o t m e n t i o n i t i n i t s r e c o m m e n d e d

f i n d i n g s o f f

a c t

, t h e r e i s a n o t h e r p i e c e o f i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t w a s n o t r e v e a l e d t o d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l u n t i l h e w a s a l l o w e d t o r e v i e w t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s a t t r i a l

. N i k i B i o n d o w a s R J S ’ s

g i r l f r i e n d a t t h e t i m e o f B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

. S h e t o l d s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s t h a t s o m e t i m e

b e t w e e n 6 : 3 0 a n d 7 : 0 0 p

. m

. o n t h e e v e n i n g o f t h e m u r d e r

, R J S c a l l e d h e r i n a v e r y e m o t i o n a l

s t a t e ( “ c r y i n g ” ) a n d t o l d h e r t h a t h i s n e x t

- d o o r n e i g h b o r h a d b e e n “ s h o t ”

— n o t k i l l e d

, b u t

“ s h o t

. ” I t i s u n c l e a r h o w R J S c o u l d h a v e l e a r n e d t h i s d e t a i l s o s o o n a f t e r t h e f a c t

. T h e

s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s d i d n o t h i n g t o f o l l o w u p o n t h i s l e a d

. A t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

, t h e S t a t e

s p e c u l a t e d t h a t R J S c o u l d h a v e h e a r d t h i s d e t a i l f r o m b y s t a n d e r s o n t h e s t r e e t i n t h e h o u r o r

s o f o l l o w i n g B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

, n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h a t t h e s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s w o u l d h a v e

t a k e n p a i n s

, a t l e a s t i n t h e o r y

, t o c o n c e a l t h e s p e c i f i c s o f t h e c r i m e s c e n e

. A j u r y w o u l d n o t

h a v e b e e n c o n s t r a i n e d t o a c c e p t t h e S t a t e ’ s s p e c u l a t i o n

, h o w e v e r

, a n d i t w o u l d h a v e b e e n

i m p o r t a n t f

o r A p p l i c a n t t o d i s c o v e r B i o n d o ’ s s t a t e m e n t i n t i m e t o t r a c k h e r d o w n a n dTEMPL E — 31

i n t e r v i e w h e r

, t o t e s t t h e a p p a r e n t e x c u l p a t o r y v a l u e o f h e r s t o r y

. S h e m a y h a v e p r o v e n t o b e

a n i m p o r t a n t w i t n e s s f

o r t h e d e f e n s e

, a n d d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s f

a i l u r e t o r e c o g n i z e h e r p o t e n t i a l

i m p o r t a n c e i n t h e l i m i t e d t i m e h e h a d t o r e v i e w t h e o f f e n s e r e p o r t s a l s o a d d s t o t h e

i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y

.

D

. C o l l e c t i v e M a t e r i a l i t y

B e c a u s e m a t e r i a l i t y i s t o b e a s s e s s e d “ c o l l e c t i v e l y

, n o t i t e m b y i t e m [

, ] ” K y l e s

, 5 1 4

U

. S

. a t 4 3 6

, t h e q u e s t i o n b e c o m e s : I s t h e r e s u f f i c i e n t u n d i s c l o s e d B r a d

y e v i d e n c e t h a t

, w h e n

t a k e n t o g e t h e r w i t h A p p l i c a n t ’ s s h o w i n g o f i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y o f t h e l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d

e v i d e n c e

, w o u l d u n d e r m i n e o u r c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e r e s u l t o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l ? I h a v e f o u n d

l i t t l e t h a t I r e g a r d a s s i g n i f i c a n t u n d i s c l o s e d B r a d y e v i d e n c e

, a n d n o t a g r e a t d e a l o f

i n c r e m e n t a l m a t e r i a l i t y i n A p p l i c a n t ’ s c l a i m s o f l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d B r a d y e v i d e n c e

. I n s h o r t

, t h e

r e c o r d s i m p l y f

a i l s t o r e v e a l m u c h B r a d y e v i d e n c e

— e i t h e r u n d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e w i t h

s i g n i f i c a n t e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g v a l u e o r l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d e x c u l p a t o r y o r i m p e a c h i n g

e v i d e n c e t h a t i s i n c r e m e n t a l l y m a t e r i a l

— t o m e a s u r e c o l l e c t i v e l y f o r m a t e r i a l i t y

.

F o r t h i s r e a s o n

, I w o u l d n o t g r a n t r e l i e f o n t h e b a s i s o f B r a d y

, b u t w o u l d i n s t e a d g r a n t

r e l i e f o n t h e b a s i s o f i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l

. T h o u g h t h e h a b e a s c o u r t

r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t w e r e j e c t a l l o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s c l a i m s o f i n e f f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l

,

i t m a d e f

e w s p e c i f

i c f i n d i n g s o f f

a c t w i t h r e s p e c t t o a n y o f t h e s e c l a i m s

. I n m y v i e w

, 4 0

The habea s court simply conclude d that Applicant’s “cur rent claim that tri al counsel 4 0

provided ineffe ctive repr esenta tion has not been shown to meet the S trickland require ments and

relief is not justified.” Such a perf unctory conclusion has littl e utilit y

. W h en “the habea s judge ’sTEMPL E — 32

A p p l i c a n t h a s e s t a b l i s h e d b y a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s

d e f i c i e n t i n a t l e a s t o n e c r i t i c a l a s p e c t

, a n d i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h i s p a r t i c u l a r t r i a l

, t h a t

d e f i c i e n c y c o u l d w e l l h a v e p r o v e n t o b e a g a m e

- c h a n g e r

.

I I I

. I N E F F E C T I V E A S S I S T A N C E O F C O U N S E L

A

. T h e S t r i c k l a n d S t a n d a r d

I n S t r i c k l a n d

v

. W a s h i n g t o n

, 4 6 6 U

. S

. 6 6 8 ( 1 9 8 4 )

, t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s S u p r e m e C o u r t

e n c a p s u l a t e d t h e S i x t h A m e n d m e n t s t a n d a r d f o r m e a s u r i n g t h e e f

f e c t i v e n e s s o f c o u n s e l :

A c o n v i c t e d d e f

e n d a n t ’ s c l a i m t h a t c o u n s e l ’ s a s s i s t a n c e w a s s o

d e f e c t i v e a s t o r e q u i r e r e v e r s a l o f a c o n v i c t i o n

. . . h a s t w o c o m p o n e n t s

. F i r s t

,

t h e d e f e n d a n t m u s t s h o w t h a t c o u n s e l ’ s p e r f o r m a n c e w a s d e f

i c i e n t

. T h i s

r e q u i r e s a s h o w i n g t h a t c o u n s e l m a d e e r r o r s s o s e r i o u s t h a t c o u n s e l w a s n o t

f u n c t i o n i n g a s t h e “ c o u n s e l ” g u a r a n t e e d t h e d e f e n d a n t b y t h e S i x t h

A m e n d m e n t

. S e c o n d

, t h e d e f e n d a n t m u s t s h o w t h a t t h e d e f i c i e n t p e r f

o r m a n c e

p r e j u d i c e d t h e d e f

e n s e

. T h i s r e q u i r e s s h o w i n g t h a t c o u n s e l ’ s e r r o r s w e r e s o

s e r i o u s a s t o d e p r i v e t h e d e f e n d a n t o f a f

a i r t r i a l

, a t r i a l w h o s e r e s u l t i s r e l i a b l e

.

I d

. a t 6 8 7

. A h a b e a s a p p l i c a n t i s e n t i t l e d t o r e l i e f i f h e c a n d e m o n s t r a t e b o t h d e f i c i e n t

p e r f o r m a n c e a n d p r e

j u d i c e b y a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e

. E x p a r t e M o o r e

, 3 9 5 S

. W

. 3 d

1 5 2

, 1 5 7 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 1 3 )

.

W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e d e f i c i e n c y c o m p o n e n t o f t h e S t r i c k l a n d s t a n d a r d

, “ [ t ] h e p r o p e r

m e a s u r e o f a t t o r n e y p e r f o r m a n c e r e m a i n s s i m p l y r e a s o n a b l e n e s s u n d e r p r e v a i l i n g

p r o f e s s i o n a l n o r m s

. ” S t r i c k l a n d

, 4 6 6 U

. S

. a t 6 8 8

. C o u n s e l h a s “ a d u t y t o b r i n g t o b e a r s u c h

finding s do not resolve the disputed fac t issues, this Court must exercise its role as t h e u l timate

finder of fac t.” Ex parte Flores

, 387 S.W .3 d 6 2 6

, 6 3 5 (T ex. Crim. App. 2012). For tunately

, the

fac tual development in the rec ord is more than sufficie nt to provide a basis to g lean the rele vant fac ts

ourselves a

nd drawconclusions of law from them.TEMPL E — 33

s k i l l a n d k n o w l e d g e a s w i l l r e n d e r t h e t r i a l a r e l i a b l e a d v e r s a r i a l t e s t i n g p r o c e s s

. ” I d

.

A p p e l l a t e r e v i e w o f c o u n s e l ’ s p e r f o r m a n c e m u s t b e d e f

e r e n t i a l

, a n d “ e v e r y e f

f o r t [ m u s t ] b e

m a d e t o e l i m i n a t e t h e d i s t o r t i n g e f f e c t s o f h i n d s i g h t [

. ] ” I

d

. a t 6 8 9

. A n a p p l i c a n t f o r p o s t

c o n v i c t i o n h a b e a s r e l i e f w h o c l a i m s h i s a t t o r n e y p e r f o r m e d d e f

i c i e n t l y m u s t o v e r c o m e t h e

p r e s u m p t i o n “ t h a t c o u n s e l

. . . r e n d e r e d a d e q u a t e a s s i s t a n c e a n d m a d e a l l s i g n i f i c a n t

d e c i s i o n s i n t h e e x e r c i s e o f r e a s o n a b l e p r o f e s s i o n a l j u d g m e n t

. ” I

d

. a t 6 9 0

.

I n o r d e r t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t h i s a t t o r n e y ’ s d e f i c i e n c y w a s p r e

j u d i c i a l

, a h a b e a s a p p l i c a n t

“ m u s t s h o w t h a t t h e r e i s a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t

, b u t f o r c o u n s e l ’ s u n p r o f

e s s i o n a l e r r o r s

,

t h e r e s u l t o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f f e r e n t

. ” I d

. a t 6 9 4

. A “ r e a s o n a b l e

p r o b a b i l i t y ” o f a d i f

f e r e n t r e s u l t m e a n s m o r e t h a n t h a t t h e e r r o r “ h a d s o m e c o n c e i v a b l e e f f e c t

o n t h e o u t c o m e o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g ” ; b u t t h e a p p l i c a n t “ n e e d n o t s h o w t h a t c o u n s e l ’ s d e f i c i e n t

c o n d u c t m o r e l i k e l y t h a n n o t a l t e r e d t h e o u t c o m e i n t h e c a s e

. ” I d

. a t 6 9 3

. I n s h o r t

, “ [ a ]

r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y i s a p r o b a b i l i t y s u f f i c i e n t t o u n d e r m i n e c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e o u t c o m e

. ”

I d

. a t 6 9 4

. T o t h i s e n d

, “ [ s ] o m e e r r o r s w i l l h a v e h a d a p e r v a s i v e e f f e c t o n t h e i n f

e r e n c e s t o

b e d r a w n f

r o m t h e e v i d e n c e

, a l t e r i n g t h e e n t i r e e v i d e n t i a r y p i c t u r e

, a n d s o m e w i l l h a v e h a d

a n i s o l a t e d

, t r i v i a l e f

f e c t

. ” I d

. a t 6 9 5

- 9 6

. “ M o r e o v e r

, a v e r d i c t

. . . o n l y w e a k l y s u p p o r t e d b y

t h e r e c o r d i s m o r e l i k e l y t o h a v e b e e n a f f e c t e d b y e r r o r s t h a n o n e w i t h o v e r w h e l m i n g r e c o r d

s u p p o r t

. ” I

d

. a t 6 9 6

.

W h i l e a r e v i e w i n g c o u r t “ n o r m a l l y l o o k s t o t h e ‘ t o t a l i t y o f t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ’ a n d ‘ t h e

p a r t i c u l a r c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f e a c h c a s e ’ i n e v a l u a t i n g t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f c o u n s e l

, E x p a r t eTEMPL E — 34

R a b o r n

, 6 5 8 S

. W

. 2 d 6 0 2

, 6 0 5 ( T e x

. C r [ i m ]

. A p p

. 1 9 8 3 )

, t h e C o u r t h a s a l s o f o u n d t h a t u n d e r

s o m e c i r c u m s t a n c e s a ‘ s i n g l e e r r o r o f o m i s s i o n b y

. . . c o u n s e l [ c a n ] c o n s t i t u t e [ ] i n e f f e c t i v e

a s s i s t a n c e

. ’ J

a c k s o n v

. S t a t e

, 7 6 6 S

. W

. 2 d 5 0 4 ( T e x

. C r [ i m ]

. A p p

. 1 9 8 5 )

, m o d i f i e d o n o t h e r

g r o u n d s o n r e m a n d f

r o m t h e U

. S

. S u p r e m e C o u r t 7 6 6 S

. W

. 2 d 5 1 8 ( T e x

. C r [ i m ]

. A p p

.

1 9 8 8 )

. ” E

x p a r t e F e l t o n

, 8 1 5 S

. W

. 2 d 7 3 3

, 7 3 5

- 3 6 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 1 )

. S e e a l s o

,

T h o m p s o n v

. S t a t e

, 9 S

. W

. 3 d 8 0 8

, 8 1 3 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 1 9 9 9 ) ( “ [ I ] t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t a s i n g l e

e g r e g i o u s e r r o r o f o m i s s i o n o r c o m m i s s i o n b y [ a p p l i c a n t ] ’ s c o u n s e l c o n s t i t u t e s i n e f f e c t i v e

a s s i s t a n c e

. ” ) ( i n t e r n a l q u o t a t i o n m a r k s o m i t t e d )

. T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s S u p r e m e C o u r t h a s 4 1

l i k e w i s e r e c o g n i z e d t h a t t h e S i x t h A m e n d m e n t “ m a y i n a p a r t i c u l a r c a s e b e v i o l a t e d b y e v e n

a n i s o l a t e d e r r o r o f c o u n s e l i f t h a t e r r o r i s s u f f i c i e n t l y e g r e g i o u s a n d p r e j u d i c i a l

. ” M u r r a

y v

.

C a r r i e r

, 4 7 7 U

. S

. 4 7 8

, 4 9 6 ( 1 9 8 6 )

. O n e m i s t a k e m a y

, i n s o m e i n s t a n c e s

, p r o v e m o m e n t o u s

e n o u g h t o j u s t i f

y t h e c o n c l u s i o n b o t h t h a t t h e a t t o r n e y r e n d e r e d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y d e f i c i e n t

p e r f o r m a n c e a n d t h a t t h e i m p a c t o f t h a t d e f i c i e n c y w a s s u c h a s t o u n d e r m i n e a p p e l l a t e

E.g.

, Ex parte Scott

, 581 S.W .2d 181 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979) (ineff ective c ounsel at the 4 1

punishment phase for failure to uncover the in v al idity of a prior conviction that was used to

enhanc e); May v. State

, 722 S.W .2d 699 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) (fa ilure to file a sworn application

for probation when the evidenc e demonstrated elig ibilit y ); Ex parte Zepeda

, 819 S.W .2d 874 (Tex.

Crim. App. 1991) (fa ilure t o reque st an accomplice- witness instruction requiring corr oboration of

the t estimony of several accomplice s as a matter of law); Vasquez v. State

, 830 S.W .2d 948 (Tex.

Crim. App. 1992) (fa ilure to reque st instruction on the defe nse of nece ssity when the evidenc e raised

the issue); Ex parte Varelas

, 45 S.W .3d 627 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (fa ilur e t o re q u es t limit ing

instruction/reasona

ble doubt instruction with respe ct to extraneous offe nses that wer e integ ral to the

State’s proof) ; Ex parte Harrington

, 310 S.W .3d 452 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (fa ilure to investiga te

the validity of a prior conviction used to enhanc e punishment); Villa v. State

, 417 S.W .3d 455 (Tex.

Crim. App. 2013) (fa ilure to r equest instruction on medical car e defe nse when the evidenc e raised

the issue); Ex parte Saenz

, 491 S.W .3d 819 (Tex. Crim. App. 2016) (fa ilure to impeach chief witness

for the State w ith his prior inconsistent statements).TEMPL E — 35

c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e r e s u l t o f

t h e p r o c e e d i n g

. “ A l t h o u g h t h e [ a p p e l l a t e ] c o u r t m u s t l o o k t o t h e

l e v e l o f c o u n s e l ’ s o v e r a l l p e r f o r m a n c e

, c l e a r l y n e g l i g e n t t r e a t m e n t o f a c r u c i a l d e f i c i e n c y i n

t h e p r o s e c u t i o n ’ s c a s e o r a n o b v i o u s s t r e n g t h o f t h e d e f e n s e w i l l o u t w e i g h t h e a d e q u a t e

h a n d l i n g o f a s e r i e s o f m i n o r m a t t e r s

. ” 3 W

. L a F a v e e t a l

. , C R IM IN A L P R O C E D U R E § 1 1

. 1 0 ( c )

,

a t 1 1 5 6

- 5 7 ( 4 t h e d

. 2 0 1 5 )

.

I b e l i e v e t h a t i s t h e c a s e h e r e

. A l t h o u g h t h e q u e s t i o n o f a t t o r n e y d e f i c i e n c y i n t h i s c a s e

i s a c l o s e o n e i n l i g h t o f d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s o v e r a l l p e r f o r m a n c e

, h i s m i s t a k e w a s a s e r i o u s

o n e

. A n d t h e r e i s a s u b s t a n t i a l b a s i s t o c o n c l u d e

, g i v e n t h e t o t a l i t y o f t h i s r e c o r d

, t h a t t h e

i m p a c t o f t h a t m i s t a k e

, h o w e v e r i s o l a t e d

, c o u l d w e l l h a v e b e e n p r o f o u n d

.

B

. T r i a l C o u n s e l ’ s D e f i c i e n c y

T h e d e f i c i e n c y i n t h i s c a s e c e n t e r s o n t h e t r i a l t e s t i m o n y o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s f a t h e r

, C h a r l e s

K e n n e t h T e m p l e

, J r

. , w h o t e s t i f i e d a s a d e f

e n s e w i t n e s s a t t r i a l

. O n t h e n i g h t o f B e l i n d a ’ s 4 2

m u r d e r

, K e n n e t h h a d g i v e n a w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o t h e s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s

. A s k e d a b o u t t h e

t i m e t h a t B e l i n d a h a d d r o p p e d b y h i s r e s i d e n c e t o p i c k u p t h e h o m e m a d e s o u p f o r t h e a i l i n g

E T o n h e r w a y h o m e

, K e n n e t h m a i n t a i n e d t h a t h e h a d g o t t e n h o m e f r o m w o r k a t 3 : 3 0 p

. m

. ,

“ a n d B e l i n d a a r r i v e d a b o u t f i f t e e n m i n u t e s l a t e r a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3 : 4 5 P

. M

. ” S h e “ v i s i t e d

w i t h u s f o r a f e w m i n u t e s ” a n d t h e n

, “ I g u e s s i t w a s a r o u n d 3 : 5 5 P

. M

. a t t h e t i m e s h e l e f t

. ”

T e s t i m o n y a t t r i a l i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e d r i v e f r o m K e n n e t h ’ s r e s i d e n c e t o A p p l i c a n t a n d

The repor ter’s re cord at trial identified the witness as “Ke nneth,” not by his first name 4 2

“Charle s,” and I

confor m to that designa tion in thi s opinion.TEMPL E — 36

B e l i n d a ’ s h o u s e t a k e s a b o u t f i f t e e n m i n u t e s

. T h u s

, a c c o r d i n g t o K e n n e t h ’ s o r i g i n a l 4 3

e s t i m a t e

, B e l i n d a c o u l d n o t h a v e a r r i v e d h o m e m u c h e a r l i e r t h a n 4 : 1 0 p

. m

. T h i s w o u l d h a v e

l e f t o n l y a v e r y n a r r o w w i n d o w o f t i m e

— t e n m i n u t e s o r s o

— d u r i n g w h i c h A p p l i c a n t c o u l d

h a v e f o r c e d o r c o a x e d B e l i n d a i n t o t h e w a l k

- i n c l o s e t

, k i l l e d h e r

, p o t e n t i a l l y c h a n g e d h i s

c l o t h e s

, s t a g e d a b u r g l a r y

, h u s t l e d E T i n t o h i s t r u c k

, a n d s t i l l a r r i v e d a t t h e s u p e r m a r k e t b y

4 4

4 : 3 2 p

. m

. D e f

e n s e c o u n s e l w a s a w a r e o f t h e c o n t e n t o f K e n n e t h ’ s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t w e l l 4 5

i n a d v a n c e o f t r i a l

.

W h e n K e n n e t h t e s t i f

i e d b e f o r e t h e g r a n d j u r y i n e a r l y A p r i l o f 1 9 9 9

, h e g a v e t h e s a m e

t i m e e s t i m a t e s : B e l i n d a a r r i v e d a t h i s h o u s e “ a t 3 : 4 5

, ” a n d t h e y v i s i t e d “ f o r a f e w m i n u t e s

s t a n d i n g t h e r e i n t h e g a r a g e

. ” “ S h e p r o b a b l y w a s a t m y h o u s e f r o m 3 : 4 5 t o 3 : 5 5

. I t h i n k s h e

l e f t a b o u t f i v e m i n u t e s t i l l 4 : 0 0

. ” H e c o n f i r m e d t h a t t h e d r i v e f

r o m h i s h o u s e t o A p p l i c a n t

a n d B e l i n d a ’ s h o m e w a s “ [ a ] b o u t 1 5 m i n u t e s

. ” D e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s p r o v i d e d w i t h a c o p y

o f K e n n e t h ’ s g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e S t a t e ’ s c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n

. I n a n y

e v e n t

, h e w o u l d h a v e k n o w n a t t h e t i m e o f t r i a l f r o m K e n n e t h ’ s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o t h e

s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s t h a t K e n n e t h ’ s p r e

- t r i a l e s t i m a t e w a s q u i t e f a v o r a b l e t o h i s d e f

e n s i v e

p o s t u r e

, s i n c e i t s u p p o r t s a t i m e

- l i n e t h a t w o u l d h a v e m a d e i t e v e n m o r e p r o b l e m a t i c f o r a

At the writ hear ing, Detec tive L eithner confirme d that in his offe nse repor t he had indicated 4 3

that it ha d taken him a

pproxi mately six teen minutes to drive the distance from Kenne th’s house to

Applicant’s.

See note 23, ante

. 4 4

This was the time that the secur ity video showed Applicant and ET enter ing the 4 5

supermar ket.TEMPL E — 37

j u r y t o c o n c l u d e t h a t A p p l i c a n t c o u l d h a v e m u r d e r e d B e l i n d a

.

I n e x p l i c a b l y

, K e n n e t h r e m e m b e r e d t h e t i m e

- l i n e d i f f e r e n t l y a t t r i a l

. H e c l a i m e d o n c e

a g a i n t h a t h e g o t h o m e a t 3 : 3 0 p

. m

. D e f e n s e c o u n s e l a s k e d h i m t o g i v e h i s “ b e s t e s t i m a t e o r

i f y o u l o o k e d a t a c l o c k

, w h e n d i d B e l i n d a g e t t h e r e ? ” K e n n e t h t o l d t h e j u r y

, “ 3 : 3 2

, o r c l o s e

t o t h a t

. ” A s h o r t w h i l e l a t e r

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l a s k e d

, “ A n d t h e n w h e n d i d s h e l e a v e

. ” K e n n e t h

a n s w e r e d

, “ I n m i n u t e s

. 3 : 4 5 a t l e a s t

. ” D e f e n s e c o u n s e l t h e n a s k e d K e n n e t h h o w l o n g t h e

d r i v e w a s b e t w e e n t h e t w o h o u s e s

. K e n n e t h a n s w e r e d :

A

. 1 5 t o

- - 1 5 p l u s m i n u t e s

.

Q

. O k a y

. A n d s h e l e f t t h e r e a t 3 : 4 5 ?

A

. Y e s

.

T h i s e s t i m a t e w o u l d h a v e p l a c e d B e l i n d a a t h o m e m u c h c l o s e r t o 4 : 0 0 o ’ c l o c k

, i n

c o n f o r m a n c e w i t h t h e S t a t e ’ s t h e o r y o f t h e c a s e

. T h o u g h t h e p r o s e c u t o r s h o w e d K e n n e t h

s e l e c t e d p o r t i o n s o f h i s g r a n d j u r y t e s t i m o n y w h i l e s h e c r o s s

- e x a m i n e d h i m a t t r i a l

, s h e n e v e r

s h o w e d h i m h i s e a r l i e r t e s t i m o n y w i t h r e g a r d t o t h e t i m e

- l i n e

.

K e n n e t h t e s t i f

i e d a g a i n d u r i n g t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

. A t t h i s p o i n t

, h e r e v e r t e d t o h i s

o r i g i n a l a c c o u n t o f t h e t i m e

- l i n e

, a s s e r t i n g o n c e a g a i n t h a t B e l i n d a d i d n o t a r r i v e a t h i s h o u s e

u n t i l 3 : 4 5

, s t a y e d f

o r a b o u t t e n m i n u t e s

, a n d l e f t “ b y 3 : 5 5

. ” K e n n e t h m a i n t a i n e d t h a t h e h a d

g i v e n d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l a c o p y o f

h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o t h e s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s o n m o r e

t h a n o n e o c c a s i o n p r i o r t o t r i a l

. E v e n s o

, h e m a i n t a i n e d

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l n e v e r a d v i s e d h i m

t o r e v i e w h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t b e f o r e t e s t i f y i n g a t t r i a l

. K e n n e t h r e i t e r a t e d t h a t h i s g r a n d j u r yTEMPL E — 38

t e s t i m o n y w i t h r e s p e c t t o h i s t i m e e s t i m a t e s w a s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t

. W h e n

,

o n c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

, t h e S t a t e ’ s h a b e a s c o u n s e l s h o w e d K e n n e t h a

t r a n s c r i p t o f h i s t r i a l t e s t i m o n y t o c o n f i r m t h a t h e h a d g i v e n a d i f f e r e n t t i m e e s t i m a t e a t t r i a l

,

K e n n e t h s e e m e d i n c r e d u l o u s :

Q

. D o y o u r e c a l l w h a t y o u t e s t i f i e d t o d u r i n g y o u r s o n ’ s t r i a l b a c k

i n 2 0 0 7 a s t o w h a t t i m e B e l i n d a T e m p l e l e f t h e r h o u s e ?

A

. I d o n ’ t r e m e m b e r t h a t s p e c i f i c a l l y

, n o

. I r e m e m b e r m y w r i t t e n

t e s t i m o n y [ s i c ]

, n o t t h a t

.

K e n n e t h i n s i s t e d t h a t h i s t e s t i m o n y a t t r i a l h a d b e e n i n a c c u r a t e

. H e r e i t e r a t e d t h a t d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l h a d n o t i n s t r u c t e d h i m b e f o r e h i s t r i a l t e s t i m o n y t o r e v i e w h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t

, n o r

d i d h e r e v i e w i t o n h i s o w n a c c o r d “ d u r i n g t h e t r i a l

. ”

F o r h i s p a r t

, d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l m a d e n o e x c u s e s f o r t h i s l a p s e w h e n h e t e s t i f i e d a t t h e

w r i t h e a r i n g

. H e a d m i t t e d t h a t K e n n e t h h a d g i v e n h i m a c o p y o f h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t “ s o o n

a f t e r I b e c a m e i n v o l v e d i n t h e c a s e

. ” A p p l i c a n t ’ s c o u n s e l t h e n a s k e d d e f e n s e c o u n s e l :

Q

. W h i c h o f t h e s e t w o t i m e l i n e s a r e m o r e b e n e f i c i a l t o t h e d e f

e n s e

,

a l i b i d e f e n s e f o r [ A p p l i c a n t ] ?

A

. W e l l

, t h e o n e o f K e n T e m p l e ’ s t i m e l i n e

. T h e o n e t h a t h a s

B e l i n d a a r r i v i n g a t t h e T e m p l e h o m e

, M r

. a n d M r s

. T e m p l e ’ s

h o m e a t 3 : 4 5 a n d t h e n l e a v i n g a t 3 : 5 5

, b e c a u s e t h a t w o u l d p u t

h e r a t [ A p p l i c a n t ] a n d B e l i n d a ’ s h o m e a b o u t 1 5 m i n u t e s l a t e r

,

w h i c h w o u l d m a k e i t a f t e r 4 o ’ c l o c k

.

Q

. C a n y o u t h i n k o f a n y r e a s o n w h y y o u d i d n o t u s e t h a t s e c o n d

t i m e l i n e ?

A

. I h a v e n o e x p l a n a t i o n f o r i t

. I d o n ’ t k n o w

.TEMPL E — 39

* * *

Q

. C a n y o u i m a g i n e h o w y o u m a d e t h a t m i s t a k e ?

A

. N o

.

Q

. W a s i t i n t e n t i o n a l ?

A

. N o

.

Q

. I s t h e r e a n y s t r a t e g i c r e a s o n w h y y o u w o u l d n o t m a k e a t t h a t

t i m e y o u r o n l y d e f

e n s e a s c l o s e t o 4 : 3 0 a s p o s s i b l e ?

A

. N o

.

* * *

Q

. N o w

, c a n y o u i m a g i n e a n y r e a s o n w h y y o u d i d n o t u s e

[ K e n n e t h ’ s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t ] t o r e f r e s h t h e m e m o r y o f

[ K e n n e t h ] w h e n [ h e ]

s a i d I g o t h o m e

- - s h e g o t t o t h e h o u s e a t 3 : 3 2 ?

A

. N o

.

Q

. A n d l e f

t a t 3 : 4 5 ?

A

. N o

. I t w a s o b v i o u s l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t

, a n d I

s h o u l d h a v e g o n e u p a n d s h o w n h i m h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t a n d s a y “ D o e s t h i s

r e f r e s h y o u r r e c o l l e c t i o n

, ” b u t I d i d n o t

.

Q

. H a v e y o u d o n e t h a t b e f o r e ?

A

. I h a v e

.

Q

. O n f

e w o r m a n y o c c a s i o n s r e f r e s h i n g a w i t n e s s ’ m e m o r y w i t h

a p r i o r w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t ?

A

. W e l l

, y o u k n o w

, t h a t ’ s s e c o n d

- y e a r l a w s c h o o l e v i d e n c e

. Y o u

c a n d o t h a t

. I ’ v e d o n e i t a l o t o f t i m e s

.TEMPL E — 40

* * *

Q

. . . . M r

. [ d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l ]

, i s t h e r e a n y r e a s o n w h a t s o e v e r f o r

y o u

, f r o m a s t r a t e g i c p e r s p e c t i v e

, n o t t o u s e [ K e n n e t h ] ’ s t i m e l i n e ?

A

. N o

.

Q

. D i d i t h a r m y o u r c l i e n t n o t t o u s e h i s t i m e l i n e ?

A

. I n o w b e l i e v e i t d i d

, y e s

.

Q

. W h y ?

A

. W e l l

, b e c a u s e i t g a v e m o r e t i m e t o b e e x p l a i n e d

. T h a t i s

, m o r e

t i m e t o d o w h a t t h e S t a t e e n v i s i o n e d t h a t [ A p p l i c a n t ] d i d

, t h a t i s

, t i m e t o k i l l

B e l i n d a

, g e t r i d o f t h e s h o t g u n

.

S t r i c t l y s p e a k i n g

, o f c o u r s e

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s m i s t a k e n t o a s s u m e t h a t h e c o u l d

h a v e u s e d K e n n e t h ’ s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o r e f r e s h K e n n e t h ’ s m e m o r y o n t h e w i t n e s s s t a n d

— a t

l e a s t n o t o v e r a n o b

j e c t i o n f r o m t h e S t a t e

. K e n n e t h d i d n o t p u r p o r t t o s u f f e r f r o m a l a p s e o f

m e m o r y w h i l e t e s t i f

y i n g a t t r i a l ; h e s e e m e d t o r e m e m b e r w e l l e n o u g h

. S e e C a l l a h a n v

. S t a t e

,

9 3 7 S

. W

. 2 d 5 5 3

, 5 5 9 ( T e x

. A p p

. — T e x a r k a n a 1 9 9 6 n o p e t

. ) ( p r e d i c a t e f o r u s i n g a d o c u m e n t

t o r e f r e s h a w i t n e s s ’ s m e m o r y i n c l u d e s a s h o w i n g t h a t “ h i s m e m o r y n e e d e d t o b e

r e f r e s h e d ” )

. H e j u s t r e m e m b e r e d d i f f e r e n t l y t h a n h e h a d i n t h e p a s t

. N e v e r t h e l e s s

, a p a r t y 4 6

I n W elch v . State , 576 S.W .2d 638, 641 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979), we e x plained: 4 6

A witness testifies from prese nt rec ollection what he reme mbers prese ntly

about the fac ts in t he case

. W hen that present recollec tion fails

, the witness may

ref resh his memory

by revie wing memorandum made when his me mory was fre sh.

After revie wing the memorandum, the witness must testify either his memory is

ref reshe d or his memory is not ref reshe d. I f h i s m em o ry is ref reshe d, the witness

continues to testify and the memorandum is not rec eived as evidenc e. Howeve r, if the

witness states that his memory is not ref reshe d, but has identified the memorandum

and g uara ntees the corr ectne ss, then the memorandum is admitted as past r e c o ll e c ti onTEMPL E — 41

m a y i m p e a c h h i s o w n w i t n e s s

. S e e T E X

. R

. E V ID

. 6 0 7 ( “ A n y p a r t y

, i n c l u d i n g t h e p a r t y t h a t

c a l l e d t h e w i t n e s s

, m a y a t t a c k t h e w i t n e s s ’ s c r e d i b i l i t y )

. D e f e n s e c o u n s e l c o u l d h a v e l a i d t h e

p r e d i c a t e

, u n d e r R u l e o f E v i d e n c e 6 1 3

, t o u s e K e n n e t h ’ s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o e l i c i t t h e f a c t

t h a t K e n n e t h h a d m a d e a n i n c o n s i s t e n t s t a t e m e n t i n t h e p a s t

— i n t h e h o p e t h a t r e m i n d i n g

K e n n e t h o f h i s p r i o r w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t w o u l d j o g K e n n e t h ’ s m e m o r y a n d c a u s e h i m t o r e v i s e

t h e s u b s t a n c e o f h i s t r i a l t e s t i m o n y

. T E X

. R

. E V ID

. 6 1 3

. M o r e o v e r

, o n c e h e l e a r n e d d u r i n g

K e n n e t h ’ s c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n t h a t K e n n e t h h a d t e s t i f i e d t o t h e g r a n d j u r y c o n s i s t e n t l y w i t h

h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t

, h e c o u l d h a v e i m p e a c h e d h i m w i t h t h a t a s w e l l

, i f n e c e s s a r y

.

M o r e t o t h e p o i n t

, d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l s h o u l d h a v e b e t t e r p r e p a r e d t h i s w i t n e s s f o r h i s

c r i t i c a l t r i a l t e s t i m o n y ; a t t h e v e r y l e a s t

, h e s h o u l d h a v e a s k e d K e n n e t h t o r e v i e w h i s w r i t t e n

s t a t e m e n t b e f

o r e t a k i n g t h e w i t n e s s s t a n d

, t o r e f r e s h h i s m e m o r y b e

f o r e t r i a l

. S e e

, e

. g

. ,

P e r r e r o v

. S t a t e

, 9 9 0 S

. W

. 2 d 8 9 6

, 8 9 9 ( T e x

. A p p

. — E l P a s o 1 9 9 9

, p e t

. r e f ’ d ) ( t r i a l c o u n s e l

p r o v i d e d i n e f

f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l b y p u t t i n g h i s c l i e n t o n t h e w i t n e s s s t a n d w i t h o u t

p r o p e r l y p r e p a r i n g h i m t o t e s t i f y )

. P e r h a p s d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l w a s d i s t r a c t e d f r o m h i s o r d i n a r y

w i t n e s s

- p r e p a r a t i o n d u t i e s b e c a u s e h e w a s b u s y e x p l o r i n g t h e m a n y n e w e v i d e n t i a r y l e a d s

w h i l e i n t h e p r o c e s s o f t r y i n g h i s c a s e

— a p r o d u c t o f t h e S t a t e ’ s b e l a t e d d i s c l o s u r e o f s o m u c h

i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t w a s f

a v o r a b l e t o t h e d e f

e n s e

.

N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s a d m i s s i o n a t t h e w r i t h e a r i n g

, t h e S t a t e a r g u e s t h a t

rec orded.

(Emphasis supplied). All of this is continge nt on a lapse of prese nt rec ollection.TEMPL E — 42

h i s p e r f o r m a n c e w a s n o t c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y d e f i c i e n t b e c a u s e f

a i l i n g t o c h a l l e n g e K e n n e t h ’ s

t r i a l t e s t i m o n y w a s n o n e t h e l e s s o b j e c t i v e l y r e a s o n a b l e

. W e h a v e i n d e e d h e l d t h a t t r i a l

c o u n s e l ’ s c o n d u c t m u s t b e m e a s u r e d b y a n o b j e c t i v e s t a n d a r d o f r e a s o n a b l e n e s s

, a n d “ a

d e c i s i o n n o t m o t i v a t e d b y s t r a t e g y m i g h t b e o b j e c t i v e l y r e a s o n a b l e

. ” E x p a r t e S a e n z

, 4 9 1

S

. W

. 3 d 8 1 9

, 8 2 9 ( T e x

. C r i m

. A p p

. 2 0 1 6 )

. F r o m t h i s p r o p o s i t i o n

, t h e S t a t e s e e m s t o a r g u e

t h a t

, b e c a u s e d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l m i g h t r e a s o n a b l y h a v e c h o s e n t o s t a n d o n K e n n e t h ’ s t r i a l

t e s t i m o n y

, n o t c h a l l e n g e i t

, w e m a y n o t f i n d t h a t h i s p e r f

o r m a n c e w a s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y

d e f i c i e n t

. I u l t i m a t e l y d i s a g r e e

, f o r t w o r e a s o n s

.

F i r s t o f a l l

, t o t h e e x t e n t t h e S t a t e i s s u g g e s t i n g t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l a c t u a l l y m a d e a

s t r a t e g i c d e c i s i o n t o l e t K e n n e t h ’ s t r i a l t e s t i m o n y s t a n d u n c h a l l e n g e d

, t h e r e c o r d p r e s e n t s

l i t t l e e v i d e n c e t o s u p p o r t t h a t c o n c l u s i o n

. D e f e n s e c o u n s e l d e n i e d i t

, i n s i s t i n g t h a t h e h a d

s i m p l y m a d e a m i s t a k e

. “ W h e t h e r a c o u n s e l ’ s a c t i o n o r i n a c t i o n i s b a s e d o n a s t r a t e g i c c h o i c e

i s a f a c t u a l q u e s t i o n

, o n w h i c h t h e d e f e n d a n t c a n o f

f e r e v i d e n c e w h e n t h e i n c o m p e t e n c y

c h a l l e n g e i s p r e s e n t e d i n a p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n p r o c e e d i n g ( a s o f t e n m u s t b e t h e c a s e )

. ” L a F a v e

,

C R IM IN A L P R O C E D U R E § 1 1

. 1 0 ( c )

, a t 1 1 3 3

. T h e r e i s n o c o m p e l l i n g r e a s o n t o r e j e c t d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l ’ s t e s t i m o n y i n t h i s r e g a r d

. S e e S a e n z

, 4 9 1 S

. W

. 3 d a t 8 2 8 & n

. 9 ( r e f u s i n g t o i n d u l g e

t h e a p p e l l a t e p r e s u m p t i o n t h a t c o u n s e l ’ s d e c i s i o n s w e r e s t r a t e g i c a l l y m o t i v a t e d i n t h e c o n t e x t

o f a p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n h a b e a s c o r p u s p r o c e e d i n g a t w h i c h “ t h e r e c o r d

. . . w a s d e v e l o p e d

, a n dTEMPL E — 43

t r i a l c o u n s e l w a s a b l e t o a d e q u a t e l y r e s p o n d ” )

. I h a v e n o t r o u b l e b e l i e v i n g t h a t

, p r e s e n t e d 4 7

f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n t h e m i d d l e o f t r i a l w i t h a n a b u n d a n c e o f v i t a l n e w i n f o r m a t i o n t o s u p p o r t

a n e w d e f

e n s i v e t h e o r y

— a n a l t e r n a t i v e s u s p e c t

— d e f e n s e c o u n s e l l o s t h i s f o c u s w h e n

e x e c u t i n g h i s o r i g i n a l d e f e n s i v e p l a n o f a l i b i

. A s u l t i m a t e f a c t f i n d e r i n p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n

h a b e a s c o r p u s p r o c e e d i n g s

, w e a r e f r e e t o a c c e p t t r i a l c o u n s e l ’ s a s s u r a n c e t h a t h i s c o n d u c t

w a s n o t b a s e d o n t r i a l s t r a t e g y

, e v e n i f t h e r e c o r d p r e s e n t s s o m e b a s i s t o b e l i e v e t h a t s o m e

o b j e c t i v e s t r a t e g y c o u l d

h a v e j u s t i f

i e d i t

. S e e S a e n z

, 4 9 1 S

. W

. 3 d a t 8 2 9 ( “ [ A ] s t h e u l t i m a t e

When ineffe ctive counsel is a lleg ed on direc t a ppeal, it is usually the case that the rec ord 4 7

is silent with respe ct to whether counsel’s action or inaction was the product of strateg y or mistake.

Bone v. State

, 77 S.W .3d 828, 833 & n.13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). “An ineffe ctiveness claim raised

on direc t appea l is limit ed to what the trial rec ord reve als as to the g rounding for counsel’s actions,

and here the ap p el l at e court commonly will assume a strateg ic motivation if any can possibly be

imag ined.” L aF ave, supra

, at 1137. I n the post-conviction context, howeve r, wher e ineffe ctiveness

of counsel has been alleg ed and the rec ord has been develope d with respe ct to counsel’s actions, this

appellate assumption no longe r controls. Saenz

, 491 S.W .3d at 828 & n.9. I f trial counsel conce des

that his chal l en ged ac t or omission was not the product of strateg y

, the objective exis tence of a

plausible strateg ic basis for the act or omission may provide a rea son to doubt the g enuinene ss of his

conce ssion. T h at wo u l d j u s t ify a finding of fac t that his choice was, in fac t, a strateg ic one

notwithstanding his conce ssion otherwise. But, as the ultimate fac t-finder in post-conviction habea s

corpus proce eding s, we rema in fre e to acc ept trial counsel’s conce ssion. Id

. at *7. This is unlike in

the appellate context, wher e appellate courts must defe r to a trial court’s finding with respe ct to the

cre dibilit y of counsel’s claim that an act o r o mission was inadver tent rathe r than strateg ic. See

Okonk wo v. State

, 398 S.W .3d 689, 694 & n.4 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (whe re trial counsel claimed

lack of strateg ic motive for an omission at trial, appellate court “should have defe rre d to the trial

court’s implied finding that counsel’s aff idavit lacke d cre dibilit y ”). Of course

, even in the postconviction context, we usually defe r to the rec ommended finding s of the convicting court when they

are support ed b y the rec ord. E.g.

, Ex parte Van Alstyne

, 239 S.W .3d 815, 817 (Tex. Crim. App.

2007). Her e, howeve r, the habea s court made only one finding of fac t re l ev an t t o t his ineffe ctive

counsel claim: “De fense counsel did not use Charles Kenne th Temple’s written statement timeline.”

I t made no rec ommended finding with respe ct to the cre dibilit y of defe nse counsel’s conce ssion that

his failure to do so was an oversig ht, not the product of strateg y

. The only question that rema ins with

respe ct to the perf

ormanc e prong of Strickland is whether that mistake was one that fell outside the

bounds of re asonable profe ssional standards.TEMPL E — 44

f a c t f i n d e r i n h a b e a s p r o c e e d i n g s

, w e d e c l i n e t o a d o p t t h e h a b e a s c o u r t ’ s f i n d i n g t h a t t r i a l

c o u n s e l m i g h t h a v e m a d e a r e a s o n a b l e s t r a t e g i c d e c i s i o n

. . . . ” )

. A c c o r d i n g l y

, I d e c l i n e t o

a u t o m a t i c a l l y a d o p t t h e S t a t e ’ s “ p o s t h o c r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n o f c o u n s e l ’ s c o n d u c t ” i n p l a c e o f

c o u n s e l ’ s o w n e x p l a n a t i o n

. W i g g i n s v

. S m i t h

, 5 3 9 U

. S

. 5 1 0

, 5 2 6

- 2 7 ( 2 0 0 3 )

.

S e c o n d l y

, t h e S t a t e ’ s a s s e r t e d j u s t i f i c a t i o n s t r i k e s m e a s l e s s t h a n o b j e c t i v e l y

r e a s o n a b l e

. T h e S t a t e a r g u e s t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l w a s c o n t e n t t o l e t K e n n e t h ’ s t r i a l t e s t i m o n y

g o u n c o r r e c t e d b e c a u s e i t w a s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e a c c o u n t h e w o u l d l a t e r e l i c i t f r o m

A p p l i c a n t h i m s e l f d u r i n g A p p l i c a n t ’ s o w n t r i a l t e s t i m o n y

. W e r e I t o r e g a r d t h i s a s a p l a u s i b l e

t a c t i c a l c h o i c e

, i t m i g h t p r e s e n t m e w i t h a r e a s o n t o r e j e c t

, a s d i s i n g e n u o u s

, d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s

c o n c e s s i o n t h a t h i s f

a i l u r e w a s a m i s t a k e

, a n d t o c o n c l u d e i n s t e a d t h a t i t w a s a r e a s o n a b l e

t a c t i c a l d e c i s i o n i n k e e p i n g w i t h h i s o v e r a l l s t r a t e g y i n t h e c a s e

. B u t

, f o r r e a s o n s I d e v e l o p

n e x t

, I f i n d t h e S t a t e ’ s p r o p o s e d d e f e n s i v e s t r a t e g y u n t e n a b l e

.

I n A p p l i c a n t ’ s o w n w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t o s h e r i f f ’ s i n v e s t i g a t o r s

, a l s o t a k e n o n t h e n i g h t

o f t h e m u r d e r

, h e e s t i m a t e d t h a t B e l i n d a “ g o t h o m e a r o u n d 3 : 4 5 P

. M

. ” W h e n h e t e s t i f i e d a t

t r i a l

, h o w e v e r

, h e c l a i m e d h e d i d n o t k n o w e x a c t l y w h a t t i m e B e l i n d a h a d g o t t e n h o m e

b e c a u s e h e h a d t a k e n h i s w a t c h o f f t o b a t h e E T

. H e g u e s s e d

, h o w e v e r

, t h a t s h e h a d g o t t e n

h o m e c l o s e r t o 4 : 0 0 p

. m

. T h e S t a t e a r g u e s t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l m a d e a d e l i b e r a t e d e c i s i o n

n o t t o i m p e a c h K e n n e t h ’ s e a r l i e r t e s t i m o n y b e c a u s e t h e e s t i m a t e K e n n e t h h a d g i v e n a t

t r i a l

— t h a t B e l i n d a l e f

t h i s h o u s e a t 3 : 4 5 p

. m

. — w a s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h A p p l i c a n t ’ s o w n ( a l b e i t

r e v i s e d ) e s t i m a t e t h a t s h e h a d a r r i v e d h o m e a p p r o x i m a t e l y f i f t e e n m i n u t e s l a t e r

, a t 4 : 0 0 p

. m

.TEMPL E — 45

T h e S t a t e t h e o r i z e s t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l d e l i b e r a t e l y c h o s e t o f o r e g o c o r r e c t i v e m e a s u r e s

w i t h r e s p e c t t o K e n n e t h ’ s t e s t i m o n y i n o r d e r t o a v o i d a n y l a t e r c o n t r a d i c t i o n o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s

o w n t i m e e s t i m a t e a n d t o t h e r e b y m a i n t a i n A p p l i c a n t ’ s c r e d i b i l i t y

.

I f i n d t h i s t h e o r y q u e s t i o n a b l e

. B o t h K e n n e t h a n d A p p l i c a n t w e r e a s k e d a t t r i a l t o

s u p p l y t h e i r b e s t e s t i m a t e s o f t h e t i m e

- l i n e

, a n d t h e j u r y w a s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y e x p e c t i n g p e r f e c t

p r e c i s i o n

. D e f

e n s e c o u n s e l h a d n o t h i n g t o l o s e a n d e v e r y t h i n g t o g a i n b y p r o p o u n d i n g t h e

m o s t f a v o r a b l e e s t i m a t e a v a i l a b l e

— r e g a r d l e s s o f w h e t h e r i t m i g h t c o n f l i c t s l i g h t l y w i t h h i s

c l i e n t ’ s

. A f

t e r a l l

, u n d e r A p p l i c a n t ’ s o w n e s t i m a t e

, w h i c h p l a c e d B e l i n d a h o m e a b o u t 4 : 0 0

,

i t w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f

f i c u l t

, b u t n o t i n c o n c e i v a b l e

, f o r h i m t o h a v e c o m m i t t e d t h e o f f e n s e

a n d s t i l l a r r i v e d a t t h e s u p e r m a r k e t b y 4 : 3 2 p

. m

. B u t u n d e r K e n n e t h ’ s p r e

- t r i a l e s t i m a t e

,

p l a c i n g B e l i n d a h o m e m u c h c l o s e r t o 4 : 1 0 p

. m

. , i t w o u l d h a v e b e e n p r a c t i c a l l y i m p o s s i b l e

.

I d o n o t t h i n k t h a t a n y r e a s o n a b l e d e f e n s e l a w y e r w o u l d a d o p t t h e S t a t e ’ s p r o p o s e d s t r a t e g y

u n d e r t h e s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s

, a n d I d e c l i n e i t s i n v i t a t i o n t o f i n d t h a t d e f

e n s e c o u n s e l i n f

a c t

d i d

. 4 8

This is not to say that the rec ord is wholly devoid of any support for the State’s arg ument.

4 8

For instance, as part of a mock trial in prepa ration for Applicant’s trial, the defe nse team appar ently

prepa red a “Juror Notebook” containing a time-line which listed the time of Be linda’s arr ival home

as “3:55 p.m.” Simi larly

, during his opening statement to the jury at the beg inning of trial, defe nse

counsel told the jurors that the evidenc e would show that Be linda arr ived home “betwe en 3:45 and

4:00 o’cloc k sometime.” This time-fra me was consistent with Applicant’s statement to sheriff ’s

investiga tors (3:45), as la ter re vised by his trial testimony

(4:00).

But other excerpts from the trial rec ord support defe nse counsel’s asser tions at t h e writ

hear ing that he simply made a mistake, not a strateg ic choice that he re grets in hindsight. For

example, at one point during Applicant’s direc t examination at trial, in try ing to establish what time

Be linda must have ar

rived home, de fense counsel a sked Applica nt:TEMPL E — 46

D e f e n s e c o u n s e l f

a i l e d t o p r o p e r l y p r e p a r e K e n n e t h t o t e s t i f y c o n s i s t e n t l y w i t h h i s

w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t w i t h r e s p e c t t o a p a r t i c u l a r f a c t t h a t w a s v i t a l t o t h e o p t i m a l p r e s e n t a t i o n

o f h i s o r i g i n a l d e f

e n s i v e p o s t u r e i n t h e c a s e

. H e w a s a l s o u n p r e p a r e d t o i m p e a c h K e n n e t h i n

t h e e v e n t t h a t h e p e r s i s t e d i n t e s t i f y i n g d i f f e r e n t l y t h a n h i s w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t

. I w o u l d h o l d

t h a t t h e s e f

a i l u r e s c o n s t i t u t e d a n o m i s s i o n t h a t f e l l b e l o w t h e s t a n d a r d o f r e a s o n a b l e

p r o f e s s i o n a l c o m p e t e n c e

. I w o u l d h o l d t h a t A p p l i c a n t h a s s a t i s f i e d t h e d e f

i c i e n t

- p e r f

o r m a n c e

p r o n g o f S t r i c k l a n d

, a n d I t u r n n e x t t o t h e q u e s t i o n o f p r e j u d i c e

.

C

. P r e j u d i c e

T h e q u e s t i o n b e f

o r e u s o n d i s c r e t i o n a r y r e v i e w i n t h i s c a s e w a s l e g a l s u f f i c i e n c y :

w h e t h e r a r a t i o n a l j u r y c o u l d c o n v i c t A p p l i c a n t o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e f a c t s p r e s e n t e d

. W e h e l d

t h a t t h e c i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e s u p p o r t e d a r a t i o n a l j u r y v e r d i c t o f g u i l t y b e y o n d a

r e a s o n a b l e d o u b t

. T

e m p l e

, 3 9 0 S

. W

. 3 d a t 3 6 3

. B u t r a t i o n a l j u r i e s c a n a c q u i t e v e n w h e n t h e

Q. So if [Belinda] left [ Kenne th’s house] at 3: 50, 3: 55 she would have

g otten [hom e] what time?

The prosecutor astut ely objected that defe nse counsel’s question “assumes facts not in evidenc e.”

Be cause Kenne th’s trial testimony place d Be linda’s depar ture at 3:45, not “3:50, 3:55,” as defe nse

counsel’s question posited, the trial court corr ectly sustained this objection. Neve rtheless, more than

once defe nse counsel asked Applicant questions that seeme d to a ssume that Kenne th’s ear lier trial

testimony had been consistent with Kenne th’s prior written statement. These exchang es s t ro n gl y

sug g est to me that defe nse counsel simply did not rea liz e that Kenne th had testified differ ently

, and

that his failure to try to co rr ec t Ke n n et h was a mistake, not a strateg ic choice

. Def ense counsel’s

second chair attorney confirme d that it had been the defe nsive strateg y at trial “to try to g et Be linda

home as close to 4:32 as possible” beca use “the closer [t o 4:32] t h at s h e ar ri v es to the house, the

more favor able it is to the defe nse.” “Courts

. . . rea dily find ineffe ctive assistance when counsel’s

testimony at a post-conviction evidentiary hear ing establishes that a failure to act on an im portant

matter was a product of inattention in a setting wher e the missed o ption was obvious.” L aF ave,

supra , at 1161.TEMPL E — 47

e v i d e n c e i s l e g a l l y s u f

f i c i e n t t o c o n v i c t

, a n d t h e q u e s t i o n b e f o r e u s i n g a u g i n g t h e p r e j u d i c e 4 9

p r o n g o f S t r i c k l a n d i s n o t o n e o f s u f f i c i e n c y o f t h e e v i d e n c e

. C f

. K y l e s v

. W h i t l e y

, 5 1 4 U

. S

.

a t 4 3 4 ( B r a d

y ’ s m a t e r i a l i t y s t a n d a r d

, w h i c h i s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e s a m e a s S t r i c k l a n d ’ s p r e j u d i c e

p r o n g

, “ i s n o t a s u f

f i c i e n c y o f e v i d e n c e t e s t ” )

. G i v e n t h e e v i d e n c e t h a t A p p l i c a n t ’ s j u r y h e a r d

i n t h i s c a s e

, a r a t i o n a l j u r y m i g h t j u s t a s r e a d i l y h a v e a c q u i t t e d h i m

. E v e n t h e S t a t e ’ s

e v i d e n c e p r e s e n t e d s o m e b a s i s t o d o u b t w h e t h e r A p p l i c a n t c o u l d p o s s i b l y h a v e h a d t i m e t o

p e r p e t r a t e t h e o f

f e n s e

, a n d t h e r e i s f

u r t h e r e v i d e n c e o f a v i a b l e s e c o n d s u s p e c t w h o w a s c l o s e

a t h a n d a n d w h o a l s o a r g u a b l y h a d a m o t i v e t o c o m m i t B e l i n d a ’ s m u r d e r

. I n s h o r t

, t h e j u r y ’ s

v e r d i c t

, t h o u g h r a t i o n a l

, w a s h a r d l y “ o n e w i t h o v e r w h e l m i n g r e c o r d s u p p o r t

. ” S a e n z

, 4 9 1

S

. W

. 3 d a t 8 3 3 ( q u o t i n g S t r i c k l a n d

, 4 6 6 U

. S

. a t 6 9 6 )

. W h e n t h a t i s t h e c a s e

, r e v i e w i n g c o u r t s

m a y m o r e r e a d i l y c o n c l u d e t h a t d e f i c i e n t a t t o r n e y p e r f

o r m a n c e r e s u l t s i n p r e

j u d i c e

. I d

.

“ A p p l y i n g t h a t p r i n c i p l e h e r e

, ” i d

. , i t i s n o t h a r d t o i m a g i n e t h a t d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s

m i s t a k e

, i s o l a t e d a s i t w a s

, c o u l d h a v e t i p p e d t h e p r e c a r i o u s b a l a n c e t h e o t h e r w a y

. A d d t o

t h e e x i s t i n g r e c o r d t h e e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e j u r y w o u l d h a v e h e a r d b u t f o r d e f e n s e c o u n s e l ’ s

f a i l u r e t o p r o p e r l y p r e p a r e K e n n e t h t o t e s t i f y

, a n d t h e r e i s a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t a

r a t i o n a l j u r y w o u l d h a r b o r a r e a s o n a b l e d o u b t t h a t A p p l i c a n t w a s t h e m u r d e r e r

. H a d d e f e n s e

c o u n s e l b e e n l e s s d i s t r a c t e d b y l a t e

- d i s c l o s e d e v i d e n c e a n d t h e r e f o r e b e t t e r f

o c u s e d t o

p r e p a r e h i s w i t n e s s

, t h e r e i s l i t t l e r e a s o n t o d o u b t t h a t K e n n e t h w o u l d h a v e r e v e r t e d t o h i s

See Johnson v. Louisiana , 406 U.S. 356, 362 (1972) (“ J ury verdic ts finding g uilt bey ond 4 9

a reasonable doubt are reg u l ar ly sustained even though the evidenc e was such t hat t he jury would

have be en justified in having a re asonable doubt[ .]”).TEMPL E — 48

o r i g i n a l t i m e e s t i m a t e

. A n d h a d t h e j u r y h e a r d a n d c r e d i t e d K e n n e t h ’ s o r i g i n a l t i m e e s t i m a t e

,

i t m i g h t m o r e r e a d i l y h a v e c o n c l u d e d t h a t A p p l i c a n t c o u l d n o t h a v e h a d t i m e t o k i l l

B e l i n d a

, a n d i t m a y t h e r e f o r e h a v e g i v e n m o r e c r e d e n c e t o t h e a l t e r n a t i v e h y p o t h e s i s

— i n 5 0

s o m e r e s p e c t s

, b e t t e r s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e

— t h a t R J S w a s t h e p e r p e t r a t o r

.

T h e S t r i c k l a n d

s t a n d a r d d o e s n o t r e q u i r e u s t o c o n c l u d e t h a t s u c h a s c e n a r i o i s m o r e

l i k e l y t h a n n o t b e f

o r e h a b e a s c o r p u s r e l i e f i s a p p r o p r i a t e

. 4 6 6 U

. S

. a t 6 9 3

. “ T h e r e s u l t o f a

p r o c e e d i n g c a n b e r e n d e r e d u n r e l i a b l e

, a n d h e n c e t h e p r o c e e d i n g s u n f a i r

, e v e n i f

t h e e r r o r s

o f c o u n s e l c a n n o t b e s h o w n b y a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e t o h a v e d e t e r m i n e d t h e

o u t c o m e

. ” I

d

. a t 6 9 4

. I n v i e w o f t h e o v e r a l l c o n t e x t i n w h i c h t h i s t r i a l o c c u r r e d

, i t i s n o

5 1

g r e a t s t r e t c h t o d e c l a r e t h a t o u r c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e r e s u l t o f A p p l i c a n t ’ s t r i a l h a s b e e n

u n d e r m i n e d

, a n d t h a t i s e n o u g h t o e s t a b l i s h “ a r e a s o n a b l e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t

, b u t f o r c o u n s e l ’ s

u n p r o f e s s i o n a l e r r o r s

, t h e r e s u l t o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f f e r e n t

. ” I d

. I c o n c l u d e

t h a t h e h a s e s t a b l i s h e d b y a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e b o t h d e f i c i e n t p e r f

o r m a n c e a n d

p r e j u d i c e

, a n d t h u s h e h a s e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t h e s u f f e r e d a d e p r i v a t i o n o f h i s S i x t h A m e n d m e n t

As it is, rely ing on the estimate that Applicant orig inally g ave to sheriff ’s investiga tors that 5 0

Be linda arr ived home as ear ly as 3:45 p.m., the State arg ued during its final summation at the g uilt

phase of trial that Applicant enjoy ed as much as 47 minutes to perpe trate the offe nse and g et to the

supermar ket. Def ense counsel was unequipped to ref ute this scena

rio in his own final arg

ument. Had

defe nse counsel proper ly prepa red Kenne th to testify consistently with his orig inal statement to the

police and his g rand jury testimony

, then defe nse counsel would have been in a position to arg ue to

the jury that Applicant had no mor e than ten minutes in which to c ommit t he off ense.

I ndeed, as is t h e case with the Bagley test for materia lity

, under the Strickland test for 5 1

prejudice

, Applicant “ca

n preva il even if” trial counsel’s defic iency “ma y n ot have aff

ecte d the jury ’s

verdic t.” W

earry v . Cain , 136 S.Ct . at 1006 n.6.TEMPL E — 49

r i g h t t o t h e e f

f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l

.

I V

. C O N C L U S I O N

A c c o r d i n g l y

, I c o n c u r i n t h e C o u r t ’ s j u d g m e n t t o r e v e r s e A p p l i c a n t ’ s m u r d e r

c o n v i c t i o n a n d r e m a n d h i m t o t h e c u s t o d y o f t h e H a r r i s C o u n t y S h e r i f f t o a n s w e r t o t h e

i n d i c t m e n t a g a i n s t h i m

.

F I L E D : N o v e m b e r 2 3

, 2 0 1 6

D O N O T P U B L I S H