Background
Late
in the evening on Friday,
June 10, 1982, Sharp
forcibly abducted Brenda
Kay Broadway and her two
daughters, Selena Elms,
then 14 years of age,
and 8-year-old Christy
Elms, from a car wash
near Kermit, Texas.
Sharp then drove them to
an isolated location
where he forced Broadway
and Selena Elms to
perform oral sex on each
other and then stabbed
Broadway and Christy
Elms to death. Selena
managed to escape and,
after she spent the
night alone in the woods,
oil field workers
discovered her the next
morning, unclothed and
suffering from exposure.
Sharp
was arrested on June 16,
1982. On June 19, 1982,
he was placed in a
police line-up and
Selena identified him as
the murderer of her
mother and sister. On
June 21, 1982, a Winkler
County grand jury
returned three
indictments charging
Sharp with the capital
murders of Brenda Kay
Broadway and Christy
Elms and the aggravated
kidnaping of Selena Elms.
Upon
motion for change of
venue the defendant's
trial was moved to
Lubbock, Texas where
Sharp was tried and
convicted of the murder
of Christy Elms. Because
of a defect in the
indictment the death
penalty could not be
imposed and Sharp was
sentenced to life
imprisonment. On
November 17, 1982, the
Winkler County Grand
Jury returned a new
indictment charging
Sharp with the capital
murder of Brenda Kay
Broadway. The defense
moved for change of
venue and the case was
transferred to Crockett
County.
Several months later
Sharp was interviewed by
Detective Jerry Smith of
the Odessa Police
Department. Smith, who
had interviewed Sharp
prior to his first trial,
was investigating the
disappearance of Blanca
Arreola, a young,
pregnant Odessa woman
who had been missing
since May of 1982.
Although the record is
somewhat unclear whether
Sharp admitted to
murdering Arreola, he
led authorities to her
buried body in a remote
location in Ector County.
The position and
location of 18-year-old
Arreola's naked body was
exactly as described in
Sharp's statement to
Smith.
At
Sharp's trial for
Broadway's murder the
state presented
testimony from several
women that Sharp had
attempted to lure them
into his truck on the
evening of the murders.
This testimony was
followed by that of
Selena Elms, by far the
most compelling evidence
against Sharp, who
unqualifiedly identified
Sharp as the murderer of
her mother.
The
state also offered
evidence that Sharp's
truck contained hairs
matching that of the
three victims, that mud
at the scene of the
crime was consistent
with mud at the oil rig
where Sharp worked, and
that traces of human
blood had been found on
Sharp's knife.
On
May 19, 1983, Sharp was
found guilty of
murdering Broadway and
the punishment phase of
the trial began. The
state presented evidence
of the Broadway and
Christy Elms murders and
of Sharp's four prior
state felony convictions,
including two
convictions for
aggravated robbery with
a deadly weapon. The
state also offered the
testimony of Detective
Smith regarding Sharp's
involvement in the
Arreola murder. Defense
counsel's objection to
this testimony, on the
grounds of surprise and
its nature as an
extraneous offense, was
overruled.
The
defense presented no
evidence during the
punishment phase. The
jury returned
affirmative answers to
the two special issues
that same day and Sharp
was sentenced to death.
Sharp's conviction and
death sentence were
affirmed on direct
appeal by the Court of
Criminal Appeals.(1)
On May 2, 1989, Sharp
filed for postconviction
relief in state court.
The trial court denied
relief and the Court of
Criminal Appeals
affirmed in an
unpublished order which
adopted the trial
court's findings and
conclusions.(2)
Sharp
then filed a habeas
corpus petition in the
federal district court.
The magistrate judge,
after several
evidentiary hearings,
filed findings of fact
and legal conclusions,
ultimately adopted by
the district court,
which recommended that
Sharp's petition for
habeas relief be
dismissed. The district
court granted Sharp a
certificate of probable
cause to appeal.(3)
This appeal followed.
We
note at the outset that
the magistrate judge
found Sharp had not
procedurally defaulted
any of his claims
because the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals, the
last state court to
review Sharp's case,
stated no grounds for
its denial of writ. The
state has proffered on
appeal, however, and the
defendant confirms, that
the Court of Criminal
Appeals issued an
unpublished opinion
along with its order in
which it adopted the
findings and conclusion
of the state district
court, including rulings
on a number of
procedural defaults.
This written order is of
record and constitutes a
clear and express
reliance on state
procedural bars by the
last Texas court to
consider Sharp's case.(4)
Accordingly, we must
apply the doctrine of
procedural default, as
dictated by that order,
to the issues raised in
this appeal.
We
first consider Sharp's
claim that evidence of
Blanche Arreola's murder,
an unadjudicated prior
offense, was presented
during the punishment
phase of Sharp's trial
in violation of Sharp's
fifth, sixth, and
fourteenth amendment
rights. This issue,
insofar as the
contemporaneous
objections by counsel
were not based upon the
grounds urged on appeal,
is procedurally barred.
Because our recent
decision in Amos v.
Scott(5)
forecloses Sharp's
argument that the Texas
contemporaneous
objection rule is not an
independent and adequate
state ground upon which
to base a procedural bar
to federal review, Sharp
is relegated to showing
cause and prejudice for
his procedural default.(6)
To
show cause, Sharp must
demonstrate that "'some
objective factor
external to the defense
impeded counsel's
efforts'" to lodge
timely the appropriate
objection in the trial
court.(7)
Sharp urges that trial
counsel was surprised by
the evidence of the
Arreola murder because
the prosecution withheld
the relevant files and
denied in a pretrial
hearing that such
evidence existed.
Assuming these
allegations of
prosecutorial
obstruction to be true,
it cannot be gainsaid
that the evidence of the
Arreola murder was known
to Sharp.
He
gave the police
statements about the
murder and led them to
the remote location
where Arreola was buried,
assisting them in the
recovery of the body.
Because Sharp possessed
at the time of trial
sufficient information
upon which to base a
proper objection
irrespective of the
state's conduct, we find
no cause for the failure
to lodge a proper and
timely objection.(8)
Sharp
also contends that trial
counsel's failure to
preserve this error
constitutes ineffective
assistance of counsel
under the two-pronged
test of Strickland
v. Washington,(9)
thus establishing cause
for the procedural
default.(10)
We find neither
deficient performance
nor prejudice in this
instance. Again, the
circumstances
surrounding the
discovery of the Arreola
murder evidence were
well known to Sharp;
thus, any error which
occurred due to Sharp's
withholding this
information from his
attorney was not the
fault of counsel and did
not constitute deficient
performance.(11)
Furthermore, in light of
the other evidence
introduced during the
guilt and punishment
phases demonstrating
Sharp's savage and
depraved disposition and
the escalating nature of
his depredations, we
cannot conclude that but
for the admission of the
Arreola murder evidence
there was a reasonable
probability that the
jury would have
responded differently in
the penalty phase.
We
next address Sharp's
contention that he was
denied his sixth, eighth
and fourteenth amendment
rights to a fair and
impartial trial due to
pretrial publicity and
its effect upon the jury
panel. Sharp's counsel
did not move for a
change of venue or a
mistrial; thus, the
issue was adjudged
procedurally defaulted
in state court. As cause
to justify this default
Sharp again invokes
ineffectiveness of
counsel under
Strickland.
Our
review of the record
reveals that counsel's
performance was not
objectively unreasonable;
only 15 of 72
prospective jurors had
an opinion about Sharp's
guilt and all of the
jurors who ultimately
sat on Sharp's trial
were accepted by Sharp's
counsel only after
lengthy and probing
questioning. While it is
true that trial counsel
allowed onto the jury
four jurors who knew
Sharp had been convicted
of Christy Elms' murder,
the record reveals, and
the magistrate judge
found, that the trial
counsel's confidence in
the ability of those
jurors to act
impartially was well-founded
and objectively
reasonable in light of
their sworn responses
during voir dire.
In light of this finding,
and given the deference
customarily owed to the
tactical decisions of
trial counsel in jury
selection,(12)
we cannot conclude that
counsel's performance
was deficient.
We
next consider whether
trial counsel was
ineffective in failing
to discover and present
relevant mitigating
evidence at the
punishment phase. The
mitigating evidence
involved is that Sharp
was a family man and a
good son. Given the
horrendous circumstances
surrounding the murder
for which he was on
trial, and the other
evidence presented at
the punishment phase,
even if we assume
deficient performance we
cannot conclude that the
prejudice prong of
Strickland has been
satisfied. Simply put,
we do not find it
reasonably probable that
the meager mitigating
evidence discussed in
Sharp's brief, put in
its best possible light,
likely would have caused
Sharp's jury to
reconsider its answers
on the penalty phase
issues.(13)
We
next consider whether
Sharp's trial counsel
was ineffective by
failing to preserve for
direct appeal a Texas
procedural defect that
would have mandated
per se reversal of
Sharp's conviction. The
first two subsections of
Texas Code of Criminal
Procedure article
36.01(a) provide that,
after the jury has been
impaneled, the
indictment must be read
to the jury by the
prosecutor and the
defendant must enter a
plea in open court. At
the time of Sharp's
conviction, failure to
comply with this
procedure, if properly
preserved, resulted in
automatic reversal.(14)
After
Sharp had been convicted
and sentenced, he raised
the absence of the
required procedures in a
motion for a new trial.(15)
Attached to this motion
was an affidavit by the
court reporter
consisting of a
transcript of the
defendant's arraignment
outside of the jury's
presence at the
beginning of trial.(16)
This transcript excerpt
purported to demonstrate
that, although Sharp's
plea had been taken
during the arraignment,
after the arraignment
the trial proceeded
without the required
reading of the
indictment or the taking
of the plea in the
jury's presence. The
trial court denied this
motion, and the case was
appealed.
The
Court of Criminal
Appeals began by stating
that the motion for new
trial was "a proper
method to show error in
the record."(17)
The court also noted,
however, that article
44.24(a) of the Code of
Criminal Procedure
created a presumption
that the prescribed
procedures had been
followed.(18)
The affidavit and
transcript excerpt were
adjudged insufficient to
rebut this presumption
because, addressing only
the arraignment at the
start of trial, they
failed to demonstrate
affirmatively that the
prescribed procedures
had not been followed at
some other juncture. The
court thereafer applied
the article 44.24(a)
presumption of
regularity to dispose of
Sharp's claim.
Sharp's original brief
is unclear regarding the
particular acts or
omissions of trial
counsel which
constituted the alleged
ineffective assistance
of counsel. In oral
argument, however,
Sharp's habeas counsel
focused upon the failure
of trial counsel to
attach the correct
affidavit to the motion
for new trial. Habeas
counsel contends that if
the error had been
preserved in such a way
as to obviate the
appellate court's
ability to rely upon the
presumption of
regularity in the lower
court proceedings, the
result would have been
automatic reversal.
Based
upon our review of Texas
jurisprudence we
conclude that Sharp's
counsel did not perform
deficiently because a
reasonably competent
attorney could not have
known, prior to the
Court of Criminal
Appeals' decision in
this case, that the
motion for new trial
would be deemed
insufficient to preserve
the error adequately.(19)
Code
of Criminal Procedure
art. 44.24 applied a
presumption of
regularity unless
a departure from
standard procedure was
"made an issue in the [trial]
court" or "otherwise
affirmatively appears to
the contrary from the
record." The effect of
this presumption on
review of the procedural
error which occurred
during Sharp's trial,
however, is, at the very
least, muddled in the
jurisprudence. It is
well-settled that the
issue may be preserved
for appeal by a timely
objection during trial
or by a motion for new
trial, bill of exception,
or motion to arrest
judgment.(20)
Prior to Sharp's appeal
the rule appeared to be
that any of
these methods sufficed
to "make issue" in the
trial court.(21)
The
Court of Criminal
Appeals' opinion in
Sharp, however,
holds that if the
objection is lodged
postverdict, as a
motion for a new trial
or arrest of judgment
necessarily must be,
then an "affirmative"
showing of the error on
the record is required
to overcome the
presumption of
regularity. If Sharp's
case had been resolved
according to the line of
cases which appear to
hold that postverdict
preservation of error in
the trial court, e.g. a
motion for a new trial,
is sufficient to "make
issue in the trial court,"
there would have been no
need for Sharp to
demonstrate that the
trial court's failure "appeared
affirmatively" from the
record and the Court of
Criminal Appeals could
have reached the merits
of his claim. But that
was not to be.
In
Sharp, the
Court of Criminal
Appeals states that
Sharp "made no objection
at trial, so the only
part of Art. 44.24(a)
that is applicable is
whether there exists an
affirmative showing to
the contrary in the
record."(22)
In support of this
proposition, the court
cited Warren v.
State.(23)
Warren, however,
held only that when the
error is discovered
after the trial,
reintroduction of the
prosecution's evidence,
the method usually
employed to cure the
absence of the
indictment/plea
procedure,(24)
is impracticable, and a
new trial is the
appropriate remedy.
More
importantly, in
Warren the error
complained of, the
prosecutor's failure to
read enhancement
paragraphs of an
indictment to the
sentencing jury, was
raised by a motion for
mistrial after sentence
had been rendered and
the jury had been
dismissed. These
circumstances,
dispositive in Sharp's
case, were treated
differently by the
Warren court:
While
appellant's objection
was not the 'proper'
trial objection, it did
raise the issue before
the trial court. The
jury had been dismissed
and a motion for new
trial would have [been]
the appropriate remedy:
but since appellant
presented the 'issue' to
the court at that time,
it had the same effect
as a motion for new
trial. Thus, a motion
for new trial was
unnecessary. It matters
not that the showing was
subsequent to the
conviction.(25)
Warren went on to
declare that in moving
for a mistrial
postverdict, a procedure
which the Warren
court had already avowed
had the "same effect" as
a moving for a new trial,
"appellant 'made an
issue' of the failure to
read the indictment and
enter a plea in the
court below."(26)
Despite this plain
language, the Sharp
court cited Warren
as authority for the
proposition that Sharp's
motion for a new trial
was insufficient to make
an issue of the
procedural defect in the
trial court.
We
must conclude that Texas
law addressing the issue
at bar at least was
conceptually amorphous
and unsettled at the
time of Sharp's
conviction and appeal.(27)
For this reason, we
conclude that Sharp's
counsel did not perform
deficiently by failing
to attach the elusive
correct affidavit to his
motion for a new trial.(28)
This
conclusion is based on
the fact that reasonable
investigation into the
applicable law,
involving of course a
review of relevant prior
jurisprudence at the
time of Sharp's trial,
would have taught that
the raising of the issue
in a motion for new
trial, without more, was
sufficient to "make
issue in the trial court,"
thus preserving the
issue for appeal. Such a
determination would have
removed any
consideration whether it
was also necessary to
demonstrate the error
affirmatively on the
record to avoid the
statutory presumption of
regularity. This is
particularly true, as
the preceding discussion
reveals, if the cases
cited in Sharp
itself are examined.
Furthermore, it is clear
from trial counsel's
testimony at the
evidentiary hearing that
his decision to wait
until after the verdict
to raise the violation
was a calculated move.
Had he lodged an
objection prior to the
verdict the traditional
remedy for preverdict
violations of the plea/indictment
rule, i.e.
compliance with the
procedural rule followed
by resubmission of the
prosecution's case,(29)
would have no doubt been
applied. The error would
have been trumped.
The
result would have been
the loss of a claim
which offered the real
prospect of a new trial,
either in the trial
court or on appeal. By
waiting until the motion
for new trial to raise
his claim, Sharp's
counsel sought to pursue
what he reasonably
perceived to be the
wisest possible strategy.
The trial judge
apparently considered
that it had merit. That
the Court of Criminal
Appeals derailed this
strategy does not
retroactively render
counsel's performance
constitutionally
deficient.
The
procedural defect
involved herein is a
matter purely of state,
not federal, law, and
therefore is in and of
itself not cognizable on
federal habeas corpus
review.(30)
Finally, we find no
merit whatever in
Sharp's mere speculation
that counsel was
ineffective for failing
to secure expert
assistance relative to
the hair found in the
truck or the blood on
his knife.
Because Sharp has not
raised a cognizable
constitutional issue,
which we may address in
this federal habeas
review, which puts into
question the federal
constitutional fairness
of his trial or its
result, our result is
mandated.
The
judgment of the district
court is AFFIRMED.
*****
1.
1Sharp v.
State, 707 S.W.2d
611 (Tex.Crim.App. 1986)
(en banc), cert.
denied, 488 U.S.
872, 109 S.Ct. 190
(1988).
2.
2Ex Parte
Sharp, No. 20,
189-02 (Tex.Crim.App.
April 23, 1990).
3.
3Brown v.
Cain,
_____ F.3d _____, slip
op. 1633 (Jan. 21,
1997). The certificate
of appealability
requirements of the
AEDPA do not apply
herein because of the
grant of a certificate
of probable cause before
the effective date of
the said Act. Were we to
conclude otherwise,
however, a COA
appropriately would
issue herein. Assuming
without deciding that
the standards of the
AEDPA are applicable,
and applying same to the
facts of record, today's
result would be the same.
4.
4Ylst v.
Nunnemaker, 501
U.S. 797, 111 S.Ct. 2590
(1991).
5.
561 F.3d 333
(5th Cir.), cert.
denied, 116 S.Ct.
557 (1995).
6.
6Wainwright
v. Sykes, 433 U.S.
72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53
L.Ed.2d 594 (1977).
Sharp advances no claim
of actual innocence
regarding his conviction
or sentence. Schlup
v. Delo, 513 U.S.
298, 115 S.Ct. 851, 130
L.Ed.2d 808 (1995);
Sawyer v. Whitley,
505 U.S. 333, 112 S.Ct.
2514, 120 L.Ed.2d 269
(1992).
7.
7McCleskey
v. Zant, 499 U.S.
467, 493, 111 S.Ct.
1454, 1470, 113 L.Ed.2d
517 (1991) (quoting
Murray v. Carrier,
477 U.S. 478, 488
(1986)).
8.
8Id.
9.
9466 U.S.
668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80
L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The
first prong of the
Strickland test
requires us to stand in
counsel's shoes and
determine whether, under
the circumstances
counsel faced, his or
her decisions and
actions were objectively
reasonable in light of
prevailing professional
norms of conduct.
Motley v. Collins,
18 F.3d 1223 (5th Cir.),
cert. denied, U.S.
, 115 S.Ct. 418, 130
L.Ed.2d 333 (1994). If
under this standard we
adjudge counsel's
performance to have been
deficient, then we must
determine whether there
exists a reasonable
probability that but for
the complained-of error
the outcome of the trial
or appeal would have
been different. Id.
10.
10Murray.
11.
11As we have
noted previously,
"[c]riminal defense
counsel need not be
omniscient, and they are
not always omnipotent
with respect to the
protection of a client's
rights." Childs v.
Collins, 995 F.2d
67, 69 (5th Cir.),
cert. denied, 510
U.S. 1016 (1993);
see also McCleskey
at 498-99, 111 S.Ct. at
1472-73; Drew v.
Collins, 964 F.2d
411 (5th Cir. 1992),
cert. denied, 509
U.S. 925 (1993).
12.
12"Our
scrutiny of counsel's
performance [is] 'highly
deferential,' and we
must make every effort
'to eliminate the
distorting effects of
hindsight, to
reconstruct the
circumstances of
counsel's challenged
conduct, and to evaluate
the conduct from
counsel's perspective at
the time.'" Motley
at 1226 (quoting
Strickland at 689);
see also Anderson v.
Collins, 18 F.3d
1208 (5th Cir. 1994).
13.
13Cf.
Callins v. Collins,
998 F.2d 269, 279 (5th
Cir. 1993) ("the
wantonness of the murder
and Callins' violent
escapades after it ...
would have overwhelmed
the minimal mitigating
evidence that
Callins now argues
should have been
introduced at the
capital sentencing
phase"), cert.
denied, 510 U.S.
1141, 114 S.Ct. 1127,
127
L.Ed.2d 435 (1994);
Wilkerson v. Collins,
950 F.2d 1054 (5th Cir.
1992) (school records
and other evidence of
impaired mental ability
and prior good behavior
insufficient, in light
of state's showing
during punishment phase,
to establish prejudice),
cert. denied,
509 U.S. 921, 113 S.Ct.
3035, 125 L.Ed.2d 722
(1993); Crockett v.
McCotter, 796 F.2d
787 (5th Cir.) (attorney
error resulting in the
admission of four prior
convictions insufficient
to establish prejudice
in light of the record),
cert. denied,
479 U.S. 1021, 107 S.Ct.
678, 93 L.Ed.2d 728
(1986).
14.
14Essary
v. State, 111 S.W.
927 (Tex.Crim.App.
1908). The purpose of
this provision is to
inform the accused of
the charges against him,
to inform the jury of
the precise terms of the
particular charge
against the accused, and
to allow the jury to
hear for itself that the
accused refutes or
admits the charges.
Barnes v. State,
797 S.W.2d 353 (Tex.App.
1990, no pet.).
15.
15The
judgment signed by the
trial court and the
docket sheet recited,
without objection, that
the procedures required
by art. 36.01(a)(1) and
(2) were followed.
Nonetheless, in a
postconviction hearing
in state court the trial
judge testified that the
indictment had not in
fact been read and the
plea had not been taken
in the jury's presence.
The trial judge further
testified that he had
told several people that
he thought the case
would probably get
reversed because of this
oversight. The
transcript of this
testimony was made part
of the federal record.
16.
16Arraignment
is provided for in
article 26.02 of the
Code of Criminal
Procedure; its purpose
is to determine the
identity and plea of the
person charged. Tex.
Crim. Proc. Code Ann.
art. 26.02. The proper
procedure would have
been to seat the jury
after the arraignment
and at that time read
the indictment and take
the plea. Collins v.
State, 548 S.W.2d
368 (Tex.Crim.App.
1976), cert. denied,
430 U.S. 959 (1977).
17.
17Sharp
at 616.
18.
18Code of
Criminal Procedure
article 44.24(a) read as
follows:
(a) The
Court of Criminal
Appeals shall presume
that the venue was
proved in the court
below; that the jury was
properly impaneled and
sworn; that the
defendant was arraigned;
that he pleaded to the
indictment; that the
court's charge was
certified by the judge
and filed by the clerk
before it was read to
the jury, unless such
matters were made an
issue in the court below,
or it otherwise
affirmatively appears to
the contrary from the
record.
Although repealed
several months after the
Court of Criminal
Appeals decided this
case, this article was
incorporated nearly
verbatim in Rule 80 of
the Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure.
19.
19Pertinent
to our inquiry is the
line of jurisprudence
absolving counsel who
fail to comply with
legal mandates which are
uncertain, vague, or
undecided at the time of
the allegedly deficient
conduct. See United
States v. Rothrock,
20 F.3d 709, 713 (7th
Cir. 1994) (counsel not
deficient for failing to
anticipate how a certain
drug would be treated
under Sentencing
Guidelines, because "this
was a difficult,
unresolved legal issue");
Clark v. Collins,
19 F.3d 959 (5th Cir.) (counsel
not deficient by failing
to object to racially-motivated
peremptory strikes
before Batson
decided), cert.
denied, 115 S.Ct.
432 (1994); United
States v. Zweber,
913 F.2d 705, 712 (9th
Cir. 1990) (counsel not
deficient
for
failing to predict
impact of collateral
conduct when Sentencing
Guidelines "were in
initial stages of
interpretation by the
courts").
20.
20Mays v.
State, 101 S.W. 233
(Tex.Crim.App. 1907).
21.
21Johnson
v. State, 42 S.W.2d
782 (Tex.Crim.App.
1931); Mays;
Noble v. State, 99
S.W. 996 (Tex.Crim.App.
1907); Thompson v.
State, 80 S.W. 623
(Tex.Crim.App. 1904);
Webb v. State, 55
S.W. 493 (Tex.Crim.App.
1900). Mays and
Noble were both
cited by the Court of
Criminal Appeals in
Sharp's direct appeal.
Sharp at 616.
22.
22Sharp
at 616.
23.
23693 S.W.2d
414 (Tex.Crim.App.
1985).
24.
24Castillo
v. State, 530
S.W.2d 952
(Tex.Crim.App. 1976);
Limon v. State,
838 S.W.2d 767
(Tex.App.1992, pet.
filed).
25.
25Warren
at 416.
26.
26Id.
27.
27In addition
to the jurisprudential
vagaries noted above,
our research reveals
some cases in which the
reviewing court simply
fails to distinguish at
all between the "make
issue" and "appear
affirmatively"
requirements for
applying the presumption
of regularity. See,
e.g., Peltier
v. State, 626 S.W.2d
30 (Tex.Crim.App. 1981).
Further inconsistency
and ambiguity is found
regarding whether the
indictment/plea error
may even be raised for
the first time on
appeal. Compare
Hazelwood v. State,
838 S.W.2d 647 (Tex.App.
1992, no pet.), with
Reed v. State, 500
S.W.2d 497 (Tex.Crim.App.
1973). The point we make
in this opinion is not
that Texas courts are
necessarily wrong;
in the absence of
constitutional
limitations they may, of
course, interpret Texas
law as they see fit.
Rather, we find only
that counsel's approach
to preserving the error
on appeal was not an
unreasonable one
from his perspective
in light of the
prevailing professional
norms in force at
that time.
28.
28See
Garland v. Maggio,
717 F.2d 199, 207 (5th
Cir. 1983) ("'Clairvoyance
is not a required
attribute of effective
representation'") (quoting
Cooks v. United
States, 461 F.2d
530 (5th Cir. 1972)).
Our resolution of this
issue makes it
unnecessary to discuss
whether Sharp was
prejudiced by this
alleged failure of
counsel. See
Tex.R.App.P. 81(b)(2) (harmless
error rule
for
review of Texas criminal
cases); Lockhart v.
Fretwell, 506 U.S.
364, 113 S.Ct. 838, 122
L.Ed.2d 180 (1993) (state
may take advantage of
beneficial changes in
the law occurring after
conviction and sentence
are final).
29.
29Castillo;
Limon.
30.
3028 U.S.C. §
2254. A federal
constitutional violation
occurs in this context
only if the error
complained of is such as
to deprive the state
court of jurisdiction
over the crime. See
Fransaw v. Lynaugh,
810 F.2d 518 (5th Cir.),
cert. denied,
483 U.S. 1008, 107 S.Ct.
3237, 97 L.Ed.2d 742
(1987). In Texas,
jurisdiction is
conferred upon the trial
court by the filing of
an indictment; "it is
the filing of
the indictment, not its
reading, which
invests the trial court
with jurisdiction."
Santos v. State,
834 SW.2d 953, 956 (Tex.App.
pet. ref'd) (citing
Tex.Const. art. V, §
12); see also Studer
v. State, 799 S.W.2d
263 (Tex.Crim.App. 1990)
(discussing purpose and
role of indictment in
Texas law).