Branch v. State, 335 S.W.3d 893

Branch was convicted of possession with intent to deliver four to 200 grams of cocaine; enhancement alleged a prior felony; the trial court denied suppression motions; the jury sentenced Branch to life with $5,000 fine; on appeal Branch challenges suppression rulings and ineffective-assistance claims.
Traffic-stop evidence: police used ocular/surveillance conduct and a narcotics-detection dog to obtain cocaine from Branch’s pocket after a lawful stop.
Home-entry/search: officers conducted a warrantless pre-search sweep with no cocaine found; later obtained a warrant and found cocaine at Branch’s home; magistrate found probable cause.
Probable-cause affidavit: multiple confidential informants corroborated by controlled buys and observed behavior supported issuance of the search warrant.
Punishment-phase: improper prosecutor statements about parole diminished by defense strategy; ultimately new-trial relief granted only for punishment ruling.
Outcome: guilt upheld; punishment reversal and remand for new punishment hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the traffic-stop duration was lawfully extended for a dog sniff	Branch; detention prolonged without reasonable suspicion	Wadley/Wingfield lawfully completed stop while awaiting dog	No error; dog sniff did not extend stop; probable cause followed from alert.
Whether the warrantless home entry tainted the subsequent warrant search	Fruit of the unlawful entry should be excluded	Pre-warrant sweep did not yield cocaine; later warrant supported by probable cause	No suppression; later search valid under probable cause and independent of pre-warrant sweep.
Whether defense ineffective for failing to object to parole commentary in closing	Defense deficient; misstate law harmed trial	No deficient performance; strategy supported lack of objection	Yes; trial counsel deficient, prejudice shown; new-trial on punishment warranted.

Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405 ((2005)) (dog sniff during lawful stop not a search; limited extension rule)
United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 ((1983)) (stop and sniff context; seizures and searches)
Kothe v. State, 152 S.W.3d 54 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2004)) (reasonable延st stop duration; dog arrival not delay)
Walter v. State, 28 S.W.3d 538 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2000)) (stop duration for warrants and checks)
Rodriguez v. State, 232 S.W.3d 55 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2007)) (probable cause assessment for warrants via totality of the circumstances)
Flores v. State, 319 S.W.3d 697 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2010)) (affidavit review under Gates framework; deferential magistrate review)
Andrews v. State, 159 S.W.3d 98 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2005)) (no reasonable trial strategy to ignore misstatement of law; deficient performance)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 ((1984)) (two-prong standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Brown v. State, 270 S.W.3d 564 ((Tex. Crim. App. 2008)) (parole argument as improper closing remark)