Victor Barrera Morones v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, considers Victor Barrera Morones’s appeal from his conviction for indecency with a child by contact and a thirty-year sentence. The court addresses claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and improper testimony concerning the victim’s truthfulness, concluding that no actual conflict of interest was shown and affirming the trial court’s judgment.

Holdings

1. The record did not establish an actual conflict of interest because counsel was not shown to be actively representing conflicting interests; therefore, Morones's ineffective-assistance claim is governed by Strickland rather than Cuyler.
2. Morones failed to establish ineffective assistance because he did not show prejudice resulting from counsel's disclosures or strategy discussions.
3. Morones failed to preserve his appellate complaint that the counselor impermissibly testified about the victim's truthfulness because his trial objections concerned hearsay, assumed facts, scientific foundation, repressed memories, and relevance rather than credibility testimony under Rule 702.
4. Even if preserved, the challenge would fail because the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the counselor's general testimony about trauma responses, memory, and children's behavior when the counselor did not opine that the victim was truthful.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defense counsel's disclosure of plea negotiations and trial strategy created an actual conflict of interest requiring review under Cuyler v. Sullivan rather than Strickland v. Washington.
2. Whether Morones established ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's disclosures concerning the plea offer, prior convictions, and anticipated testimony.
3. Whether Morones preserved his challenge to the counselor's testimony as impermissible expert testimony concerning the victim's truthfulness.
4. Whether, if preserved, the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the counselor's general testimony about trauma responses and memory.

Disposition

affirmed