Dylan Bradley Ciminera v. State, 14-14-00817-CR

Appellant Dylan Ciminera pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery—serious bodily injury and received admonishments including the 5–99 year punishment range.
He entered an open plea (no agreed punishment) and filed for deferred-adjudication community supervision; the court preserved, but did not promise, the possibility of deferred adjudication.
At punishment hearing, evidence showed Ciminera went to the complainant’s home with a gun, demanded money, and shattered the complainant’s jaw; the court sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.
After sentencing Ciminera moved for a new trial alleging ineffective assistance: counsel told him he likely would receive deferred adjudication and six months in jail if he pleaded guilty.
At the motion hearing, Ciminera testified he relied on counsel’s assurances; counsel testified he did not promise deferred adjudication and that he prepared the PSI and consulted extensively with appellant and his family.
The trial court denied the motion for new trial; the court of appeals affirmed, concluding the record did not show counsel erroneously or incompetently advised appellant.

Issue	Appellant's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether trial court abused its discretion by denying new-trial claim that counsel misinformed appellant about punishment, rendering plea involuntary	Counsel told Ciminera he likely would receive deferred adjudication and six months in jail, so plea was induced by misinformation	Record shows no promise from counsel; appellant was admonished and acknowledged no promise; counsel denied making such assurances	No abuse of discretion; appellant failed to prove deficient advice—Strickland first prong not met; plea voluntary

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong ineffective-assistance standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
Salinas v. State, 163 S.W.3d 734 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (applying Strickland standard in Texas)
Brown v. State, 943 S.W.2d 35 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) (misinformation about probation can render a plea involuntary if it actually induced the plea)
Fimberg v. State, 922 S.W.2d 205 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1996) (defendant’s claim of misinformation alone is insufficient to invalidate plea)
Jackson v. State, 973 S.W.2d 954 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (ineffective-assistance claims must be affirmatively supported by the record)
Labib v. State, 239 S.W.3d 322 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2007) (court must find counsel actually gave erroneous advice before reaching prejudice inquiry)
Ex parte Battle, 817 S.W.2d 81 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (cases where plea involuntariness due to counsel misinformation was established)
Ex parte Griffin, 679 S.W.2d 15 (Tex. Crim. App. 1984) (same)
Ex parte Burns, 601 S.W.2d 370 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980) (same)
Helton v. State, 909 S.W.2d 298 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 1995) (same)