Court Opinion

ID: 9406696
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-03 10:08:26.043862+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:32.593784
License: Public Domain

In the
        Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
         at Fort Worth
      ___________________________

           No. 02-22-00160-CR
      ___________________________

     KENNETH RAY ROSS, Appellant

                      V.

           THE STATE OF TEXAS

   On Appeal from the 213th District Court
          Tarrant County, Texas
        Trial Court No. 1615307D

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Birdwell and Womack, JJ.
  Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack
                           MEMORANDUM OPINION

                                 I. INTRODUCTION

      A jury convicted Appellant Kenneth Ray Ross of aggravated sexual assault of a

child—his niece, T.W. (Taylor)1—and the trial court sentenced him to life

imprisonment. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.021(a)(2)(B). In his sole issue on

appeal, Ross argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt–

innocence phase of his trial when his counsel failed to object to and seek the

exclusion of testimony from a detective that Taylor’s allegations were truthful.

Because we will hold that Ross has not established that his trial counsel’s performance

was deficient, we will affirm.

                                  II. BACKGROUND

      In 2019, police were called to the home of Ross’s mother, D.R. (Deloris),

where an argument was taking place between family members. The family members

taking part in the argument included: (1) Deloris—the matriarch of the family;

(2) Ross—Deloris’s son; (3) D.S. (Donna)—Deloris’s daughter and Ross’s younger

sister; and (4) Taylor—Deloris’s granddaughter, Ross’s niece, and Donna’s daughter.

The argument appears to have started between Ross and Taylor over a missing

basketball goal. According to Donna, the argument escalated when Deloris called

      1
       To protect the complainant’s anonymity, we use an alias to refer to her and to
some of her family members. See McClendon v. State, 643 S.W.2d 936, 936 n.1 (Tex.
Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1982).

                                           2
Taylor—who suffers from cerebral palsy—a “black crippled bitch.”               Eventually,

Taylor       called   the   police   because,   according   to   her,   Ross   was   being

“very . . . aggressive” and she wanted to prevent Ross and Donna “from physically

fighting.”

         After police arrived, both Taylor and Donna reported that they had each been

sexually assaulted by Ross when they were children. Taylor explained that she had

told police about the abuse because she thought they needed to know “the back

story . . . so they would understand the dynamic of the situation.”2 Taylor and Donna

later met with Detective Brandi Howard of the Mansfield Police Department, where

they recounted their allegations of sexual abuse. Ross was ultimately indicted for

aggravated sexual assault for his abuse of Taylor when she was a child.

         At Ross’s trial, Taylor testified that she had moved into Deloris’s home around

1995, when Taylor was approximately eleven years old.3 Initially, only Deloris, Taylor,

       According to Taylor, police also responded to arguments involving Taylor and
         2

Ross in or around 2005 and 2016—occasions when Ross was allegedly being
“aggressive” toward her. Taylor maintains that she told responding officers in 2005
and 2016 that Ross had sexually assaulted her as a child but that she had declined to
press charges on those occasions. When asked at trial why she had told the police
about the abuse but declined to press charges, Taylor reiterated that she “felt like they
needed to know the back story of why it led up to [her] calling the police. So they
could get a better understanding of the family dynamic and what was going on when it
came to [Ross] and [her].”

      Taylor explained that she had moved in with Deloris because her mother,
         3

Donna, “was on the wrong path” and was unable to take care of her. At Ross’s trial,
Donna testified that she had been sexually assaulted by Ross in or around 1976, when
she was approximately eight years old, and Ross was approximately sixteen. Because

                                                3
Taylor’s younger brother, and Deloris’s common-law husband lived in the house.

Within a year, however, Ross had also moved into the house with his wife and son.

      Taylor testified that Ross had sexually assaulted her on several occasions at

Deloris’s home, with the abuse starting in 1995 and continuing “[f]or a good year to

two years.” She explained that these instances followed the same pattern each time

and would occur when Ross was the only adult in the house. She testified that Ross

would instruct his son and her brother to go outside, that he would make her put on a

certain dress once the boys were outside, that he would instruct her to come to his

bed, that he would take her underwear off, and that he would kiss her and try to insert

his penis inside her vagina.4 Taylor stated that she had wanted to report the abuse as a

child but that she was afraid that reporting it would cause her to be separated from

her younger brother.5

      Apart from Taylor’s testimony, the jury also heard testimony from Donna,

Deloris, Detective Howard, and a director of program services for a children’s

advocacy center.    Of note, during Detective Howard’s testimony, the detective

it is not pertinent to our analysis, we need not detail the allegations of Ross’s sexual
abuse of Donna. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1.
      4
        While Taylor stated that Ross had never been able to “fully insert his penis
into [her] vagina,” she maintained that his penis had contacted her vagina.
      5
       Taylor testified that Ross had told her that either nobody would believe her
report of abuse or that she and her brother would end up with Child Protective
Services and that her brother would be adopted but that she would not be adopted
due to her cerebral palsy.

                                           4
testified—with no objection being raised—that she believed that Taylor’s outcry “was

reasonable and truthful with a lot of sensory details that [she] thought were prudent to

[Taylor] being a victim of sexual assault as a child.”

       After considering the evidence, the jury found Ross guilty of aggravated sexual

assault of a child. Ross elected to have the trial court assess his punishment, and the

trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. This appeal followed.

                                    III. DISCUSSION

       In his sole issue, Ross argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel

during the guilt–innocence phase of his trial when his counsel failed to object to and

seek the exclusion of Detective Howard’s testimony that Taylor’s allegations were

“truthful.”

A. Standard of Review and Applicable Law

       The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the effective assistance

of counsel. Ex parte Scott, 541 S.W.3d 104, 114 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017); see U.S. Const.

amend. VI.     To establish ineffective assistance, an appellant must prove by a

preponderance of the evidence that his counsel’s representation was deficient and that

the deficiency prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104

S. Ct. 2052, 2064 (1984); Nava v. State, 415 S.W.3d 289, 307 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013).

The record must affirmatively demonstrate that the claim has merit. Thompson v. State,

9 S.W.3d 808, 813 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).

                                             5
      In evaluating counsel’s effectiveness under the deficient-performance prong,

we review the totality of the representation and the particular circumstances of the

case to determine whether counsel provided reasonable assistance under all the

circumstances and prevailing professional norms at the time of the alleged error. See

Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688–89, 104 S. Ct. at 2065; Nava, 415 S.W.3d at 307; Thompson,

9 S.W.3d at 813–14. Our review of counsel’s representation is highly deferential, and

we indulge a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct was not deficient. Nava,

415 S.W.3d at 307–08.

      A court of appeals may not infer ineffective assistance merely from an unclear

record or a record that does not show why counsel failed to do something. Menefield v.

State, 363 S.W.3d 591, 593 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012); Mata v. State, 226 S.W.3d 425, 432

(Tex. Crim. App. 2007). Indeed, trial counsel “should ordinarily be afforded an

opportunity to explain his actions before being denounced as ineffective.” Menefield,

363 S.W.3d at 593. If trial counsel did not have such an opportunity, we should not

conclude that counsel’s performance was deficient unless the challenged conduct was

“so outrageous that no competent attorney would have engaged in it.”            Nava,

415 S.W.3d at 308. Direct appeal is usually inadequate for raising an ineffective-

assistance-of-counsel claim because the record generally does not show counsel’s

reasons for any alleged deficient performance. See Menefield, 363 S.W.3d at 592–93;

Thompson, 9 S.W.3d at 813–14.

                                          6
B. The Complained-Of Testimony

      Ross’s complaint of ineffective assistance of counsel is based on his trial

counsel’s failure to object to or seek the exclusion of testimony regarding the

following exchange between the State and Detective Howard at trial:

      Q. And so, Detective, you work these cases every day. When an
      allegation comes in of sexual abuse do you just write a warrant every
      time one of these allegations comes in?

              A. No, I don’t.

              Q. In this case did you write a warrant?

              A. I did, yes.

            Q. Is that because you believed you had probable cause to arrest
      Mr. Ross for this offense?

             A. I believe the victim’s outcry was reasonable and truthful with a
      lot of sensory details that I thought were prudent to her being a victim
      of sexual assault as a child.

      Following that exchange, the State passed the witness, and Ross’s trial counsel

cross-examined Detective Howard. Notably, Ross did not file a motion for new trial,

nor did he request a hearing to develop the record regarding his ineffective-assistance-

of-counsel claim.

C. Analysis

      Ross cites four cases—Fuller v. State, 224 S.W.3d 823 (Tex. App.—Texarkana

2007, no pet.); Sessums v. State, 129 S.W.3d 242 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2004, pet.

ref’d); Miller v. State, 757 S.W.2d 880 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1988, pet. ref’d); and Garcia v.

                                            7
State, 712 S.W.2d 249 (Tex. App.—El Paso 1986, pet. ref’d)—to support his argument

that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to or seek the exclusion of

Detective Howard’s testimony that Taylor’s allegations were “truthful.” Those cases

are distinguishable.

       In Fuller, the defendant was convicted of sexual assault of a child and indecency

with a child. 224 S.W.3d at 826. At the defendant’s trial, the State asked multiple

witnesses—the complainant’s mother, a police officer, and a forensic interviewer for a

children’s advocacy center—whether they believed the complainant was being truthful

with respect to her sexual-assault allegations. Id. at 833–35. Each witness responded

that they thought the complainant was truthful or credible. Id. On appeal, the

defendant raised a complaint of ineffective assistance of counsel, contending that his

trial counsel “was ineffective by not objecting to the State’s ‘bolstering’ of [the

complainant’s] truthfulness and credibility.” Id. at 832. After considering the issue,

the Texarkana Court of Appeals held that “this is one of those rare cases in which the

record on direct appeal is sufficient to decide counsel had no plausible trial strategy

for not objecting to the inadmissible testimony and that his conduct was deficient.”

Id. Accordingly, the court of appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the case

for a new trial. Id. at 837.

       In Sessums, the defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child

and indecency with a child. 129 S.W.3d at 244. At his trial, four expert witnesses

“were asked to explain and then to comment directly on the factors they used in

                                           8
determining if [the complainant] was telling the truth.” Id. at 248. During closing

arguments, the State “specifically discussed (without objection) that the [complainant]

must not be a liar, because he was able to convince all four of these experts he was

telling the truth.” Id. On appeal, the defendant raised a complaint of ineffective

assistance of counsel.    Id. at 246.   In reversing the defendant’s conviction and

remanding the case for a new trial, the Texarkana Court of Appeals held that “[t]here

is no conceivable strategy or tactic that would justify allowing this testimony in front

of a jury.” Id. at 248.

       In Miller, the defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual assault. 757 S.W.2d

at 880. At his trial, the State asked several questions of witnesses regarding the

truthfulness of the complainant’s sexual-assault allegation. Id. at 881–883. It asked a

doctor who had examined the complainant his opinion regarding whether the

complainant had been sexually abused, it asked the complainant’s mother whether she

thought he was lying with respect to the sexual-assault allegation, and it asked a

counselor whether she had an opinion on whether the complainant had been sexually

abused. Id. On appeal, the defendant raised a complaint of ineffective assistance of

counsel. Id. at 880. After analyzing the issue, the Dallas Court of Appeals held that it

could “glean no sound trial strategy in defense counsel’s failure to object to the

extensive, inadmissible testimony concerning the only real issue at trial—

complainant’s credibility.” Id. at 884. Accordingly, the court of appeals reversed the

trial court’s judgment and remanded the case for a new trial. Id. at 885.

                                           9
      Finally, in Garcia, the defendant was convicted of burglary of a habitation with

intent to commit the crime of indecency with a child. 712 S.W.2d at 251. At the

defendant’s trial, a detective and a social worker each testified “with regard to their

opinions as to the truthfulness of the testimony of the complaining witnesses.” Id. at

253. The detective in that case was specifically asked whether it was his impression

that the complainant had been sexually abused. Id. at 251. On appeal, the defendant

raised a complaint of ineffective assistance of counsel. Id. at 253. In reversing the

defendant’s conviction and remanding the case for a new trial, the El Paso Court of

Appeals held that the defendant’s counsel was deficient by not objecting to the

detective’s and social worker’s respective testimony regarding the truthfulness of the

complaining witnesses. Id.

      In the four cases cited by Ross, the State asked questions designed to elicit

testimony regarding the truthfulness of the complainants’ respective sexual-assault

allegations. See Fuller, 224 S.W.3d at 833–35; Sessums, 129 S.W.3d at 248; Miller,

757 S.W.2d at 881–883; Garcia, 712 S.W.2d at 251, 253. Here, in contrast, the State

did not ask Detective Howard to opine on Taylor’s truthfulness; rather, Detective

Howard was asked whether she had had probable cause to arrest Ross, and in

answering that question, Detective Howard volunteered that Taylor’s outcry was

“reasonable and truthful.” Moreover, in the four cases cited by Ross, there was

repeated testimony from multiple witnesses regarding the truthfulness of the

complainants’ respective sexual-assault allegations. See Fuller, 224 S.W.3d at 833–35;

                                          10
Sessums, 129 S.W.3d at 248; Miller, 757 S.W.2d at 881–883; Garcia, 712 S.W.2d at 251,

253. Here, in contrast, Ross’s complaint relates to only one instance of improper

testimony from one witness. See Ingham v. State, 679 S.W.2d 503, 509 (Tex. Crim. App.

1984) (“An isolated failure to object to certain procedural mistakes or improper

evidence does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.”); Alberts v. State,

302 S.W.3d 495, 507 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2009, no pet.) (noting that “an isolated

failure to object to improper evidence does not constitute ineffective assistance of

counsel” and distinguishing Fuller, a case where the references to the complainant’s

truthfulness “were not isolated incidents”).

      The circumstances presented here more closely resemble the circumstances

presented in Herrera v. State, No. 01-08-00615-CR, 2009 WL 1813093 (Tex. App.—

Houston [1st Dist.] June 25, 2009, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).

There, the defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Id. at *1.

At the defendant’s trial, a detective was asked whether the complainant’s responses to

the detective’s questions were consistent with someone who had been sexually

assaulted. Id. at *5. The detective responded, “Well, it’s hard to say consistent

because everybody is different; but I can say I had absolutely no reason to doubt the

things [the complainant] was telling me were true.” Id.

      On appeal, the defendant cited Fuller to suggest that his counsel rendered

ineffective assistance by not objecting to the detective’s testimony regarding the

complainant’s truthfulness. Id. at *6. The First District Court of Appeals found Fuller

                                           11
to be distinguishable, noting that “[t]he difference between this case and Fuller . . . lies

not with each witness’s answer, but with the question that elicited it.” Id. The court

of appeals noted that the State’s question as to whether the complainant’s responses

were consistent with someone who had been sexually assaulted sought permissible

testimony. Id. The court further reasoned, “Given that the question itself was not

objectionable, and the witness’s response was brief and occurred only in passing, [the

defendant’s] trial counsel could have reasonably concluded that an objection would

have highlighted the unsolicited testimony to his client’s detriment.” Id. As such, the

court of appeals held that the defendant’s trial counsel had not been ineffective. Id.

       Just as the prosecutor’s question in Herrera that led to the complained-of

testimony did not seek to elicit testimony regarding the truthfulness of the

complainant’s allegations, here, the State’s question that led to the complained-of

testimony—whether Detective Howard had probable cause to arrest Ross—was not a

question seeking an answer regarding Taylor’s truthfulness. Moreover, just as the

witness’s response in Herrera “was brief and occurred only in passing,” here, Detective

Howard’s response was brief and isolated to that one occurrence. Id. Ross’s trial

counsel, like the trial counsel in Herrera, may have “reasonably concluded that an

objection would have highlighted the unsolicited testimony to his client’s detriment.”

Id.; see Weatherly v. State, 283 S.W.3d 481, 487 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2009, no pet.)

(rejecting ineffective-assistance-of-counsel complaint where counsel explained that he

had not objected to complained-of testimony because “he did not want to call

                                            12
attention to the damaging testimony”). Thus, based on the silent record before us, we

cannot conclude that Ross’s trial counsel’s failure to object to or exclude Detective

Howard’s testimony was deficient. See Wurtz v. State, No. 02-22-00010-CR, 2022 WL

17841128, at *4 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Dec. 22, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op., not

designated for publication) (“And the record, such as it is, does not allow us to

conclude that the challenged conduct was so outrageous that no competent attorney

would have engaged in it.”); Brantley v. State, No. 02-19-00349-CR, 2021 WL 3679239,

at *4 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Aug. 19, 2021, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for

publication) (“Ultimately though, we may not speculate regarding why trial counsel

acted as he did and must presume that a reasonable trial strategy supported his

conduct.”). We overrule Ross’s sole issue.

                                 IV. CONCLUSION

      Having overruled Ross’s sole issue, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

                                                     /s/Dana Womack

                                                     Dana Womack
                                                     Justice

Do Not Publish
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)

Delivered: June 29, 2023

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