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TX3: Assaulting lawyer during trial not necessarily ineffective assistance

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant cannot assault his lawyer during trial and then necessarily successfully contend the lawyer was ineffective. The lawyer's actions showed that he was being effective. Berry v. State, 03-08-00031-CR (Tex. App.--Austin February 4, 2009): In his second issue on appeal, Berry argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel during the punishment phase because a conflict of interest arose when the State presented evidence of Berry's assault on counsel. This evidence consisted of a video recording of the assault, as well as testimony from a sheriff's deputy who witnessed the incident. Berry takes the position that counsel's status as the victim of an extraneous offense created an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected counsel's performance...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on February 21, 2009 (boomark / email).