Gerald Ray Barrow v. State, 07-13-00046-CR

Gerald R. Barrow was charged by information with misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury for allegedly striking Shirley White Barrow with his fist while they were living together; they later married.
At trial the State introduced police testimony, photographs of Shirley’s facial injuries, and her testimony describing an altercation in which she said Barrow hit her; she also admitted she had started the fight and had struck Barrow with a chair and possessed a knife.
Defense counsel elicited that Shirley was intoxicated at the hospital, had a New Jersey criminal record, served time, and faced a possession charge the next day; she also told defense counsel she did not want to prosecute and wanted Barrow released.
The jury convicted Barrow and assessed a $1,200 fine; Barrow was represented by appointed counsel at trial and by different appointed counsel on appeal.
Barrow moved for a new trial asserting ineffective assistance: inadequate investigation, failure to pursue self-defense, failure to obtain Shirley’s criminal history, and failure to interview other witnesses; the trial court granted a new trial, but an intermediate appellate panel reversed that grant.
On this direct appeal Barrow renewed his ineffective-assistance claim; the court applied Strickland and concluded the record did not demonstrate deficient performance or a reasonable probability of a different result, and affirmed the conviction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Barrow received ineffective assistance of trial counsel	Trial counsel failed to investigate, obtain victim’s criminal history, pursue witnesses or a self-defense theory, and failed to move for continuance to prepare	Counsel’s conduct was not shown to be so deficient that it fell below constitutional standards, and there is no showing of prejudice (no reasonable probability of acquittal)	Court held record did not satisfy Strickland’s deficient-performance prong; no need to reach prejudice; conviction affirmed

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (establishes two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel: deficient performance and prejudice)