Court Opinion

ID: 9763331
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:41:32.039105+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:41.226834
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I agree that the appropriate standard for determining ineffective assistance of counsel during the punishment phase is in Ex parte Duffy, 607 S.W.2d 507, 516 (Tex.Crim.App.1980). See Craig v. State, 825 S.W.2d 128 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). However, the Court of Criminal Appeals has noted that its continued use of the Duffy standard is “questionable.” Ex parte Felton, 815 S.W.2d 733, 736-37 n. 4 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). I wholeheartedly agree with the implicit plea in the majority’s opinion in this case that the Duffy standard be reexamined.
My view is that we do not have to apply Duffy. The record does not contain any sworn evidence that Ware has never been convicted of a felony in this or any other jurisdiction. The parties never stipulated that fact and, although Ware made such an allegation in a sworn application for probation, that is not sworn evidence. Furthermore, he never proved by testimony or an affidavit at the hearing on the motion for a new trial that he is eligible for probation. Nor does he allege in his appellate brief that he has never been convicted of a felony, and the state does not concede that fact in its brief. Surely Ware has to demonstrate in the record that such evidence exists before he can obtain a reversal based on his counsel’s failure to present it to the jury. See Tex.R.App.P. 50(d). Without evidence in the record that Ware is eligible for probation, there is simply no basis on which to find that counsel was ineffective for not presenting the evidence to the jury. Under the circumstances, I would reject Ware’s claim of ineffective assistance. See Mercado v. State, 615 S.W.2d 225, 228 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1981).
The majority holds that we cannot question whether the record contains sworn evidence that Ware is eligible for probation because the question was never raised in the trial court or in this court. Ware has to demonstrate on appeal that the evidence exists before he can prevail on his point. See id. The proof is part of his burden on appeal. See Tex.R.App.P. 50(d). He does not win just because the State did not prove that the evidence does not exist or did not argue that it does not exist, either in the trial court or on appeal.
For this reason I dissent.