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Haro v. State

A jury found the appellant guilty of two counts of alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child. Unless the trial court's comments taint the presumption of innocence owed to the defendant or apply the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of proof to the cause before it, failure to object waives error. The trial court's judgment is affirmed. Houston's 1st Court of Appeals, No. 01-10-00877-CR, 12-29-2011.

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OPINION

A Harris County grand jury handed down two indictments, both charging Julio Cesar Haro with aggravated sexual assault of a child. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.021 (West 2011). The jury found him guilty of both charges and assessed his punishment at 25 years’ confinement for each offense. On appeal, Haro contends that the trial court committed reversible error during voir dire in its explanation of the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of proof, and that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to object to that explanation. We hold that, while Haro failed to preserve his objection to the trial court’s explanation of reasonable doubt, the trial court did not commit fundamental error, and trial counsel’s failure to object during that voir dire explanation does not satisfy the Strickland v. Washington test for showing ineffective assistance. 466 U.S. 668, 687–88, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 2064–65 (1984). We therefore affirm.

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