Ex parte Gonzalez

In Ex parte Gonzalez, 945 S.W.2d 830, 835 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) the Court reinforced the well-established proposition that "the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is not forfeitable, but may only be waived by the conscious and intelligent decision of the person who holds the right." (citing Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L. Ed. 1461 (1938)); See also Marin v. State, 851 S.W.2d 275, 278-79 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (suggesting in dicta that "right[] to the assistance of counsel" need not be preserved in trial court in order to be raised on appeal), overruled on other grounds, Cain v. State, 947 S.W.2d 262 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).