Court Opinion

ID: 9765619
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:10:37.082866+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:12.203030
License: Public Domain

BENAVIDES, Judge,
dissenting.
I do not disagree with the general proposition for determining effective assistance of counsel as expressed in the majority opinion. However, I disagree with the treatment made by the Court of Appeals in determining from a cold record and without benefit of a hearing, that appellant’s trial counsel’s performance was defective in those matters enumerated.
In its brief before this Court, the State sets forth reasonable explanations for such counsel’s actions. Without the benefit of a hearing, I would not conclude that counsel’s performance was or was not adequate. Effectiveness of trial counsel is not generally an issue ripe for determination on direct appeal.
My preference would be that such issues are properly raised in the context of a post conviction habeas corpus proceeding. See Art. 11.07, Y.A.C.C.P. This record, as well as most records on direct appeal, contain no testimony from appellant’s trial counsel; the one person who can shed the most light on the reason (or lack thereof) and the circumstances surrounding his alleged unprofessional conduct. Testimony of other witnesses and factors existing at the time of the asserted unprofessional conduct is not in the record because no claim of ineffective counsel was made until after the trial court lost its jurisdiction. The appellate court is put in the position of making a determination of counsel’s performance from a record that neither side contemplated would be used for such a determination. Thus, the determination of effectiveness of counsel on direct appeal deprives both the appellant and the State the opportunity to develop adequately their positions and could permanently foreclose appellant’s right to relief to which he could otherwise be entitled. See Vasquez v. State, 1992 WL 4042 (No. 1095-90, delivered January 15, 1992) (Benavides, J., dissenting).
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
McCORMICK, P.J., and WHITE, J., join.