Rios v. State

JOHNSON, Justice.

From a plea of not guilty, Tomas Rios, Jr., appellant, was convicted of first degree murder after a jury trial. The jury as sessed punishment at confinement for 99 years. By two points of error, appellant seeks reversal of the punishment assessed. He asserts that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury in the punishment charge concerning mitigation provisions of the Texas Penal Code, and that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. We affirm.

In the early morning of July 14, 1996, appellant bludgeoned Uvaldo Garcia to death with a baseball bat. Garcia was…