Ex parte Oscar Sanchez, Jr. (original by presiding judge keller)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Oscar Sanchez, Jr. was convicted of failure to stop and render aid, and he was placed on probation. He filed an Article 11.072 habeas proceeding, alleging that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to introduce testimony from passengers who were in his car at the time of the alleged offense. He provided habeas affidavits from some of the passengers. The trial court denied relief after reviewing the trial record and the habeas affidavits. In its review of the trial court’s determination, the court of appeals stated that a de novo review was appropriate because “the habeas judge was not the trial judge and there was no evidentiary hearing” and consequently, “the judge is not in an appreciably better position than the reviewing court to resolve the matter.” But because a court of appeals acts solely as an appellate court in reviewing a trial court’s ruling in an Article 11.072 proceeding, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found the court of appeals’s statement of the standard of review was inaccurate. "Even affidavits and documentary evidence must be viewed with deference to the trial court’s ability to resolve questions of fact." Consequently, the court of appeals' judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.