Nicholas Bradford Jones v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 219th District Court of Collin County

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS

NICHOLAS BRADFORD JONES, )

) No. 08-02-00431-CR

Appellant, )

) Appeal from the

v. )

) 219th District Court

THE STATE OF TEXAS, )

) of Collin County, Texas

Appellee. )

) (TC# 219-81864-01)

)

O P I N I O N

In a single issue, appellant complains his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object under Rules of Evidence 401, 402, and 403 to the victim character and impact testimony of two witnesses. Because the record is silent to defense counsel=s reasoning or trial strategy, we affirm.

I

The appellant pled guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced by the jury to 20 years= confinement plus a fine of $10,000. Further factual background and legal analysis may be found in the related case: 08-02-00429-CR. In this and two companion cases,[1] the complainant and a close friend of her=s gave victim impact testimony. In one issue, appellant argues trial counsel was ineffective because he failed to make relevancy and Rule 403 objections. The law is well settled. With an undeveloped record, we cannot discern the reasons or strategy behind trial counsel=s actions. Based upon this record, we cannot conclude that appellant has established that trial counsel=s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, in order to satisfied the first prong of Strickland. Rylanderv. State, 101 S.W.3d 107, 111 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984). Appellant=s sole issue is overruled.

The judgment is affirmed.

DON WITTIG, Senior Justice

August 21, 2003

Before Panel No. 5

Barajas, C.J., Larsen, and Wittig, JJ.

(Wittig, J., sitting by assignment)

(Do Not Publish)

[1] The two related cases are cause numbers: 08-02-00429-CR and 08-02-00430-CR.