Galvan V. Cockrell

In January 1996, Arturo Galvan was convicted by a jury in state court of aggravated kidnaping. Galvan pleaded true to repeat offender charges and was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. Galvan's first of two state habeas applications, pertaining to the revocation of his probation which was used to enhance his sentence, was denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals without a written order. Galvan's second state habeas application was filed on September 21, 1998, and was also denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Galvan then filed a § 2254 petition raising several claims, including: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to convey a plea bargain offer; (2) an erroneous jury charge; and (3) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to the erroneous jury charge. Galvan's petition was denied by the district court and this Court granted a COA on all of the above issues.