(DOWNLOAD) "Curiel v. State" by Virginia Court of Appeals # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Curiel v. State
- Author : Virginia Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 12, 2007
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
Appellant, John Curiel, appeals a judgment that convicted him of engaging in organized criminal activity, a felony, for shooting the complainant, Pedro Nazario. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. §Â§ 71.02 (Vernon Supp. 2006) (organized criminal activity), 22.02 (aggravated assault). Appellant pleaded not guilty to the jury. The jury found him guilty, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. In five issues, appellant contends (1) that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support his conviction; (2) that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that his criminal conduct was committed "in the course" of organized criminal activity; (3) that the States jury argument contained improper comment on appellants post-arrest silence; (4) that the States jury argument improperly asked the jury to evaluate appellants conduct from the perspective of a reasonable person in appellants position; and (5) that appellants trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We conclude that the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support appellants conviction, that the jury charge was not required to contain the phrase "in the course," that appellant waived his complaints to closing arguments by the States attorney by failing to object, and that appellant has not shown that his trial counsels performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. We affirm.