Opinion

Tran, Cuong

Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
Feb 3, 2021
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 14.9%

The opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NO. WR-91,505-01

EX PARTE CUONG TRAN, Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

CAUSE NO. D-1-DC-15-900145-A FROM TRAVIS COUNTY

Per curiam. SLAUGHTER , J., would remand. YEARY , J., dissented.

OPINION

The State charged Applicant with third-degree felony assault. TEX . PENAL CODE §§ 22.01

(a)(1), (b)(2)(B). A jury convicted and assessed a six-year sentence. Applicant filed this application

for a writ of habeas corpus in the county of conviction, and the district clerk forwarded it to this

Court. See TEX . CODE CRIM . PROC . art. 11.07.

Before trial, the State offered Applicant a plea deal for misdemeanor assault with time served.

The habeas record shows that Applicant either was not informed of the plea offer, which he would

have accepted, or rejected the plea offer based on bad advice. See Lafler v. Cooper, 132 S.Ct. 1376

(2012); Missouri v. Frye, 132 S.Ct. 1399 (2012). The trial court, with the State’s agreement,

recommends granting habeas relief.

2

The findings and recommendation are supported by the habeas record. Relief is granted. Id.;

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). The judgment in cause number D-1-DC-15-900145

from the County Court No. 4 of Travis County is set aside. Applicant is remanded to the custody of

the Sheriff of Travis County to answer the charges as set out in the indictment. The trial court shall

issue any necessary bench warrant within ten days from the date of this Court’s mandate.

Copies of this opinion shall be sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice–Correctional

Institutions Division and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Delivered: February 3, 2021

Do not publish

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.