Court Opinion

ID: 9630637
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:16:08.480193+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:41.095307
License: Public Domain

Opinion by
Justice YÁÑEZ.
I must concur in the result reached by the majority. After the agreement was read into the record by the State at the hearing, defense counsel examined appellant. Counsel inquired, “Are you asking this court to impose a condition of continued probation instead of a sentence of prison?” Appellant answered, ‘Yes.” This question and answer are open to two different interpretations. One interpretation is that defense counsel and appellant were pleading with the trial court to assign a lesser punishment than was contemplated by the agreement. As the trial court is authorized to grant such relief,1 the deci*670sion to pose the question to appellant could be considered sound trial strategy.2 However, a second interpretation is that appellant did not understand the terms of the agreement, resulting in appellant entering into the agreement unknowingly and involuntarily. Such an interpretation implies that defense counsel either failed to explain the terms of the agreement to appellant satisfactorily or misled appellant about the agreement’s terms. I am very concerned by this second possibility because, if true, then counsel’s performance was ineffective, in that it fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and necessarily harmed appellant.3
“When a defendant agrees to the terms of a plea bargain agreement he is deemed to have entered into the agreement knowingly and voluntarily, unless he shows otherwise.” Ex parte Williams, 637 S.W.2d 943, 947 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); see Anthony v. State, 732 S.W.2d 687, 690 (Tex.App.Corpus Christi 1987, no pet.); see also Hardeman v. State, Nos. 13-98-617-CR & 13-98-618-CR, 2000 WL 34251897, at 4, 2000 Tex.App. LEXIS 5751, at *10 (Corpus Christi August 24, 2000, no pet.) (not designated for publication). In addition, appellant also bears the burden of proving that counsel was ineffective by a preponderance of the evidence. Thompson v. State, 9 S.W.3d 808, 812 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). There is a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct fell within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Id. To defeat this presumption, “any allegation of ineffectiveness must be firmly founded in the record, and the record must affirmatively demonstrate the alleged ineffectiveness.” McFarland v. State, 928 S.W.2d 482, 500 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The United States Supreme Court has held that when ineffective assistance claims are raised on direct appeal, as is the case here, “appellate counsel and the court must proceed on a trial record not developed precisely for the object of litigating or preserving the claim and thus often incomplete or inadequate for this purpose.” Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 123 S.Ct. 1690, 1694, 155 L.Ed.2d 714 (2003); Freeman v. State, 125 S.W.3d 505, 508 (Tex.Crim.App., 2003).
Here, there is no further indication that the second interpretation of counsel’s question and appellant’s answer is correct, such as a record establishing appellant expressly misunderstood the agreement or that he was explicitly misled by defense counsel. Considering appellant’s burdens, the presumption of reasonable professional assistance, and the absence of a developed record, appellant has not shown that the second interpretation I advance is more likely than the first.
Nevertheless, the trial court arguably should have inquired further into the knowingness and voluntariness of appellant’s plea. The court of criminal appeals has emphasized that:
[t]he instances in which defendants are misled by their own attorney or the State’s attorney should be reduced, as well as the instances in which defendants feel they have been misled or deceived .... The only effect can be more even-handed justice, a better informed exercise of judicial discretion, and an increase in the extent to which defendants feel the criminal justice system has treated them fairly.
Cruz v. State, 530 S.W.2d 817, 822 (Tex.Crim.App.1975). Accordingly, a few questions from the bench would have cleared up whether or not appellant understood *671that the agreement contemplated a prison sentence, not simply probation.

. "The recommendation of the prosecuting attorney as to punishment is not binding on the court.” TexCode Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 26.13(a)(2) (Vernon Supp.2004).

. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

. See id.; Thompson v. State, 9 S.W.3d 808, 812 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999).