Michael Cochran v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 399th Judicial District Court of Bexar County

MEMORANDUM OPINION
No. 04-02-00121-CR
Michael COCHRAN,
Appellant
v.
The STATE of Texas,
Appellee
From the 399th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2001-CR-1142
Honorable Juanita Vasquez-Gardner, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Catherine Stone, Justice

Sitting: Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice

Catherine Stone, Justice

Paul W. Green, Justice

Delivered and Filed: January 22, 2003

AFFIRMED

Michael Cochran was charged with murdering Lawrence White. Cochran pleaded not guilty to the charged offense, waived his constitutional rights, and stipulated to the evidence submitted to the trial court. The trial court found Cochran guilty and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment and fined him $1,000.

Cochran's court-appointed appellate attorney filed a brief containing a professional evaluation of the record and demonstrating that there are no arguable grounds to be advanced. Counsel concludes that the appeal is without merit. The brief meets the requirements of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). A copy of counsel's brief was delivered to Cochran, who was advised of his right to examine the record and to file a pro se brief. Cochran filed a pro se brief.

In his pro se brief, Cochran contends that he is entitled to a reversal of his conviction because: (1) there is insufficient evidence to convict him of the alleged offense; (2) he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his trial attorney failed to object to the admission of polygraph evidence and hearsay testimony; and (3) the trial court disregarded his trial testimony on the issue of self defense. Because the issues raised in Cochran's pro se brief involve the application of well-settled principles of law, we affirm his conviction in this memorandum opinion under Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 47.4 for the following reasons:

1. We overrule Cochran's challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence because Cochran stipulated to the admission of certain evidence, including his written confession to the murder of White. Cochran's admission is legally and factually sufficient to support his conviction. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); Johnson v. State, 23 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000).

2. We overrule Cochran's ineffective assistance of counsel challenge because Cochran fails to present evidence demonstrating he was harmed by defense counsel's failure to object to polygraph and hearsay evidence. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984); Thompson v. State, 9 S.W.3d 808, 812 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).

3. We overrule Cochran's challenge to the trial court's credibility findings because the trial court was the exclusive judge of the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Joseph v. State, 897 S.W.2d 374, 376 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995).

Based on the foregoing, we agree with Cochran's attorney that the appeal is frivolous and without merit. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Furthermore, we grant counsel's motion to withdraw. Nichols v. State, 954 S.W.2d 83, 86 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1997, no pet.); Bruns v. State, 924 S.W.2d 176, 177 n. 1 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1996, no pet.).

Catherine Stone, Justice

DO NOT PUBLISH