Ricky Blankenship v. Gary L. Johnson, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Ricky Blankenship appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Concluding that a recently-enacted statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1), bars relief, we affirm.

I

In 1988, Blankenship was convicted of aggravated robbery, sentenced to ten years in prison, and released pending appeal. On direct appeal, his court-appointed attorney, Michael Lantrip, successfully argued that the indictment was fatally deficient because it listed Blankenship’s victim as “Armando” when the actual victim was Armando’s brother, Rudolfo. The court of appeals reversed and ordered…