Kegler v. State

In Kegler v. State, 16 S.W.3d 908, 913 (Tex. App.--Houston 14th Dist. 2000, pet. ref'd), two brothers, Kedric and Terry, were charged with aggravated robbery and tried together. Id. at 910. They pleaded guilty and the trial court sentenced Kedric to thirty years in prison and Terry to forty years in prison. Id. One attorney represented both Kedric and Terry at the plea and sentencing hearings. Id. at 911. On appeal, Terry argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney's actions in emphasizing Kedric's lesser role in the offense. Id. at 914. The court noted that "the trial court did not necessarily assess a harsher punishment against Terry merely because defense counsel pointed out that Kedric stayed in the car, did not know anyone had been shot, and would have felt differently had his brother been 'on the scene and had a sun.'" Id. Further noting that the trial court had all the relevant facts of the case before it, the court held that defense counsel's summary of the evidence did not unfairly prejudice either brother or manifest a conflict of interest. Id.