Terry Antonio Johnson III v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Ninth District Court of Appeals of Texas considers Terry Antonio Johnson III’s appeal from a murder conviction and life sentence with a $10,000 fine. Johnson challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting rejection of his self-defense claim, denial of a continuance based on alleged late discovery, effectiveness of counsel, and exclusion of testimony from the decedent’s girlfriend. The court affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

Holdings

1. The evidence was legally sufficient for a rational jury to reject Johnson's self-defense claim and find that he knowingly and intentionally caused Rebollar's death.
2. Johnson failed to preserve both his Brady complaint and his article 39.14 complaint because the record did not show that he raised the Brady issue in the trial court, presented the continuance motion for a ruling, obtained an adverse ruling, or objected to the trial court's refusal to rule.
3. Johnson failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal because the silent record did not demonstrate deficient performance or prejudice, and counsel's challenged conduct was not shown to be so outrageous that no competent attorney would have engaged in it.
4. Johnson failed to preserve any complaint concerning the exclusion of Vo's testimony or the recorded conversation between Vo and Cobb because he did not call Vo, make an adequate offer of proof, obtain an adverse ruling, or object to the trial court's refusal to rule.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support the jury's rejection of Johnson's self-defense claim and his murder conviction.
2. Whether the trial court erred by effectively denying Johnson's motion for continuance based on alleged violations of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 39.14 and Brady v. Maryland.
3. Whether Johnson received ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's handling of the continuance and late-produced evidence, failure to call an eyewitness, failure to challenge forensic and ballistics evidence, and failure to request an instruction on abuse of a corpse.
4. Whether the trial court improperly excluded testimony or a recorded conversation involving Rebollar's girlfriend and whether Johnson preserved that complaint for appellate review.

Disposition

affirmed