Adedji Olalincoln Adekeye v. State, 437 S.W.3d 62

Appellant was convicted of attempted aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon, with punishment assessed at 35 years and 10 years respectively.
The scene was a hair salon in a largely empty shopping center; the salon owner observed a suspicious woman and a white SUV with two male occupants.
The heavier male displayed a handgun and wore gloves; he attempted to exit the SUV with a bag as a potential robbery was anticipated.
Police pursued the SUV; the two male passengers fled, discarding a handgun, mask, gloves, and a bag; the bald heavyset man was found hiding at a dump truck site.
The salon owner identified the bald, heavyset man in court as the male who exhibited the gun, and the driver with an unkempt wig was identified as appellant’s girlfriend; appellant’s mother (the sole defense witness) testified she was the girlfriend.
Appellant’s sole defense witness also connected a third party to the other passenger; the slender male passenger was never apprehended.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the evidence proves attempted aggravated robbery beyond a reasonable doubt	Adekeye argues there was no specific intent to target the salon and actions were only preparatory	Adekeye contends conduct did not rise above mere preparation	Evidence supported the conviction
Whether counsel rendered ineffective assistance under Strickland	Adekeye claims multiple failures by counsel deprived him of a fair trial	Adekeye asserts deficient performance and prejudice across several trial decisions	No reversible error; claims fail on prejudice or strategy grounds
Whether failure to sever charges was ineffective assistance or strategic error	Adekeye claims severance would have avoided prejudice from related charges	Counsel strategically chose to try offenses together to avoid double jeopardy and sentencing issues	No error; strategy reasonable given punishment scheme
Whether trial counsel’s handling of prior conviction and related disclosures was deficient	Adekeye argues unnecessary or prejudicial disclosure of prior felony hurt his case	Counsel’s strategy to discuss the conviction was permissible and not prejudicial given strong guilt evidence	No reversible error; no prejudice shown

Temple v. State, 390 S.W.3d 341 (Tex.Crim.App.2013) (legal sufficiency standard for review of evidence)
Williams v. State, 235 S.W.3d 742 (Tex.Crim.App.2007) (credibility and weight resolved in verdict; review limits)
Wesbrook v. State, 29 S.W.3d 103 (Tex.Crim.App.2000) (jury credibility and weight issuesResolve in favor of verdict)
Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772 (Tex.Crim.App.2007) (consideration of direct and circumstantial evidence in sufficiency review)
Flournoy v. State, 668 S.W.2d 380 (Tex.Crim.App.1984) (imaginary line between mere preparation and criminal act in attempt)
Sorce v. State, 786 S.W.2d 851 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1987) (case on attempt vs. preparation benchmarks)
Hackbarth v. State, 617 S.W.2d 944 (Tex.Crim.App.[Panel Op.]1981) (outline of attempt standards and flight evidence)
Godsey v. State, 719 S.W.2d 578 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (illustrates last proximate act in attempt context)
Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154 (Tex.Crim.App.1991) (limits on burdens of proof in circumstantial cases)
Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (U.S.201) (admission of prior conviction and related prejudice rules)