Opinion
No. 01-07-00867-CV
Filed: June 19, 2009.
Appeal from the District Court of Harris County, Trial Court Case Number: 0606952j, Trail Judge Hon. John philips.
William B. Connolly, Connolly Shireman, LLP, Houston, TX.
APE Sandra D. Hachem, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Houston, TX.
OPINION
The Court's Memorandum Opinion issued June 17, 2009 should have been issued as an Opinion. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.2.
The corrected page for the Opinion is attached.
After a bench trial, the trial court terminated the parental rights of appellant, Fredrick Dewaynne Walker ("Walker"), to his minor son, W.J.W., and named the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services ("DFPS") sole managing conservator of W.J.W. See TEX. Fam. Code ANN. § 161.001 (Vernon 2008). On appeal, Walker challenges whether the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the termination of his parental rights and whether he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel. We affirm.
Background
On July 19, 2006, Walker's wife, Lauressa, gave birth to W.J.W. in Houston. Because both W.J.W. and Lauressa tested positive for cocaine at the time of birth, the hospital made a referral to DFPS. Lauressa admitted to hospital staff that she had used cocaine as recently as three days before W.J.W. was born, and the staff reported to DFPS that Walker had appeared to be intoxicated when he arrived at the hospital. Neither Walker nor Lauressa had any identification, money, or paperwork on them. When questioned by the DFPS caseworker at the hospital, Walker admitted that he had used drugs in the past and that he and Lauressa had three older children who were already in CPS custody in Florida. The DFPS caseworker also noted that Walker and Lauressa were homeless.
Based on evidence that (1) both Lauressa and W.J.W. tested positive for