BRANYON v. State

I respectfully dissent. I would reverse and remand for a new trial because the motion court clearly erred when it ruled Movant was not prejudiced by his trial counsel’s actions, which opened the door to allowing the State to introduce otherwise inadmissible evidence of Movant’s prior arrest.

Background

Although the majority opinion accurately summarizes the facts of this case, the recitation of facts is somewhat abbreviated, and does not include certain matters which are germane to this dissent. Mov-ant was convicted of both attempt to commit statutory sodomy and child molestation following a…