George W. Brown, Jr. v. State, 02-16-00271-CR

Appellant George W. Brown, Jr. pled open and opted for a jury to assess punishment after pleading guilty to evading arrest with a vehicle, enhanced by a prior felony; exposure was 2–20 years and up to $10,000 fine.
The offense arose from a high-speed, ~30-minute pursuit in January 2016; multiple warrants and prior felony convictions existed in the preceding nine years.
At punishment, Brown testified and presented five character witnesses who acknowledged his past but testified he had changed.
One character witness, Sharla Dyer, had prior drug and theft convictions; the State’s cross-examination highlighted two theft convictions.
Brown argues on direct appeal that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the State’s impeachment questions about Dyer’s theft convictions; the jury assessed 16 years and a $5,000 fine.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to impeachment of a character witness	Brown: counsel’s failure to object to the State’s questions about Dyer’s theft convictions was deficient and prejudicial	State: the record does not show counsel was deficient; strategic reasons may exist and Brown failed to show prejudice	Court: Affirmed — Brown failed to meet Strickland’s first prong; record does not affirmatively show deficient performance

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two‑prong ineffective assistance test)
Nava v. State, 415 S.W.3d 289 (appellate review is highly deferential; ineffective claims rarely resolved on direct appeal)
Menefield v. State, 363 S.W.3d 591 (direct appeal ordinarily inadequate for ineffective-assistance claims; counsel should be afforded chance to explain)
Thompson v. State, 9 S.W.3d 808 (record must affirmatively demonstrate ineffectiveness)
Mata v. State, 226 S.W.3d 425 (cannot infer ineffectiveness from unclear record)
Hernandez v. State, 988 S.W.2d 770 (same standard for proving ineffective assistance)
Adetomiwa v. State, 421 S.W.3d 922 (cited regarding statutory framework for evading-arrest enhancement)