Opinion issued November 28, 2017 In The Court of Appeals For The First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-17-00383-CR ——————————— EX PARTE JAIME ALEXANDER BLANCO On Appeal from the 240th District Court Fort Bend County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 96-DCR-027953 MEMORANDUM OPINION Appellant, Jaime Alexander Blanco, appeals from the trial court’s order denying him habeas corpus relief pursuant to Articles 11.072 and 11.08 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.1 Blanco contends that his trial counsel was ineffective 1 See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.072 § 8 (West 2016) (providing for appeal in felony or misdemeanor case in which applicant seeks relief from order or judgment of conviction ordering community supervision); id. at art. 11.08 (“If a person is confined after indictment on a charge of felony, he may apply to the judge because his counsel did not properly advise Blanco of the immigration consequences of his 1996 guilty plea, even though it was entered before the issuance of Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356, 376, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010). But Padilla, which established a new rule requiring counsel to inform defendants of the risk of deportation when entering guilty pleas, does not apply retroactively to cases that became final prior to its holding. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order denying Blanco’s application. Background Blanco is a citizen of El Salvador who has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 1992. On August 12, 1996, Blanco pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony offense of burglary of a habitation, for which the State was seeking ten years’ confinement. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 12.33, 30.02(a)(3), (c)(2) (West 2016). However, because he had never been convicted of a felony before this crime, Blanco was placed on ten years’ probation and ordered to pay $1,200.00 in restitution, a $300.00 fine, and $126.50 in court costs, in accordance with his agreement with the State. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. §§ 42.12 § 5(a) (West 2016). In addition, Blanco was also ordered to serve 90 days in county jail, complete of the court in which he is indicted; or if there be no judge within the district, then to the judge of any district whose residence is nearest to the court house of the county in which the applicant is held in custody”) (West 2016). 2 240 hours of community service, and comply with all the other conditions of his probation. On October 29, 2000, after the State moved to revoke Blanco’s probation, Blanco pleaded true to several violations, including a misdemeanor DWI conviction, in exchange for the State’s recommendation that his punishment be assessed at four years’ confinement. On November 27, 2000, the trial court revoked Blanco’s probation and sentenced him to four years’ confinement. Blanco did not appeal and the judgment revoking probation subsequently became final. On November 28, 2016, more than twenty years after his 1996 plea, Blanco, through habeas counsel, filed a habeas application, under Articles 11.072 and 11.08, with a motion ...
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