Ex Parte Villegas
Ex Parte Villegas
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex.Crim.App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Eighth Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. Villegas v. State, No. 08-95-00272-CR (Tex.App.-El Paso July 10, 1997) (unpublished).
Applicant contends, in several allegations, that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and that he is actually innocent.
The trial court held a series of live hearings and made findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court determined that counsel was ineffective and Applicant is actually innocent under Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 115 S.Ct. 851, 130 L.Ed.2d 808 (1995). Based on this Court’s independent review of the record, we agree that Applicant is entitled to relief due to ineffective assistance of counsel, but disagree that he has shown he is actually innocent. In a Schlup actual-innocence claim, evidence demonstrating innocence is a prerequisite the applicant must satisfy to have an otherwise barred constitutional claim considered on the merits. Schlup, 513 U.S. at 314-15, 115 S.Ct. 851. In this
Relief is granted. The judgment in Cause No. 76187 in the 41st District Court of El Paso County is set aside, and Applicant is remanded to the custody of the Sheriff of El Paso County to answer the charges as set out in the indictment. The trial court shall issue any necessary bench warrant within 10 days after the mandate of this Court issues.
Copies of this opinion shall be sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Correctional Institutions Division and Pardons and Paroles Division.
Concurring Opinion
filed a concurring opinion.
It has sometimes been said that we “recognize! 1 two types of ‘innocence’ claims.”
For this Court to continue to “recognize” so-called “Schlup innocence claims” does a disservice to the bench and bar and engenders the kind of misunderstanding that the convicting court exhibited in this case. The truth of the matter is that there
Here the applicant raised both his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and his Elizondo actual-innocence claim in this initial writ application. There is no procedural bar to our proceeding directly to the merits of both claims. The abuse-of-the-writ provision in Article 11.07, Section 4, is not triggered, so there is no reason for anyone to invoke the exception that is embodied in the gateway provision in Section 4(a)(2). And there is certainly no occasion to mention Schlup.
With these remarks, I concur in the Court’s judgment.
. Ex parte Brown, 205 S.W.3d 538, 544 (Tex.Crim.App. 2006).
. Ex parte Elizondo, 947 S.W.2d 202 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996).
. 513 U.S. 298, 115 S.Ct. 851, 130 L.Ed.2d 808 (1995).
. See Ex parte Blue, 230 S.W.3d 151, 158, 160 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007).
. Id. at 158 (citing, e.g., Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390, 417-19, 113 S.Ct. 853, 122 L.Ed.2d 203 (1993)).
. Schlup, 513 U.S. at 326-27, 115 S.Ct. 851.
. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. arts. 11.07 § 4(a)(2), 11.071 § 5(a)(2).
. In its opinion today, the Court says that "[b]ecause Applicant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims are not procedurally barred as subsequent, a Schlup innocence claim dependent on them is improper.” Majority Opinion at 887. This sentence implies that there would ever be a "proper” context in which to assert "a Schlup innocence claim.” Better to say that there is no such thing as “a Schlup innocence claim” in Texas, and that our own statutory gateway provision is not triggered in this case, the applicant having raised his constitutional claims (including his Elizondo actual-innocence claim) in an initial writ application.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ex Parte Daniel VILLEGAS, Applicant
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published