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Not striking ADA was strategic choice and not IAC

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging as a juror an ADA from the same office prosecuting the case. This was purely a matter of trial strategy. State v. Morales, --- S.W.3d ----, 2008 WL 2081617 (Tex.Crim.App. May 14, 2008): For purposes of argument, we will assume that Wyatt was challengeable for cause under the implied bias doctrine. Moreover, we recognize that when a constitutional claim of juror partiality is properly preserved for appeal and borne out by the appellate record, the service of even “a single partial juror will vitiate a conviction.” Even so, the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury is just that-a right. We have held that the right to trial by impartial jury, like any other right, is subject to waiver (or even forfeiture) by the defendant in the interest of overall trial strategy...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on May 23, 2008 (boomark / email).