Court Opinion

ID: 9763481
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:46:40.31284+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:44.257133
License: Public Domain

MALONEY, Judge,
concurring.
While it is my opinion that appellant’s trial counsel failed to satisfy an objective standard for reasonable performance, because the record lacks any evidence that the second prong of Strickland was met, I can only concur in the result.
Under the first prong of Strickland, counsel’s performance must meet “an objective standard of reasonableness”. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Ex parte Walker, 777 S.W.2d 427, 430 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). Appellant was indicted for robbery. At voir dire, three prospective jurors who were recent victims of crime (burglary or robbery) stated that they could not be fair, but would be biased against appellant. I believe there can be no other conclusion than that the failure to strike or challenge these venireper-sons was not objectively reasonable. While counsel could conceivably have had some peculiar and unapparent reason for not striking a single prospective juror who stated he was biased against the defendant, Delrio v. State, 840 S.W.2d 443 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), it is inconceivable that counsel would have had such cause not to strike three venirepersons who stated they could not be impartial due to their bias against the defendant. See Ex parte Carillo, 687 S.W.2d 320, 324 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (adequacy of representation viewed in light of totality).