Whether a pro se defendant must be informed of the prosecution's theory of his own criminal liability when pleading guilty to a death-eligible homicide charge arising from a killing actually committed by his codefendant

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Petitioner John Falk and his codefendant Jerry Martin attempted a prison escape. Martin killed a guard when he drove a pickup truck into the horse she was riding. Petitioner was not in the vehicle. The Texas “law of parties” permitted Falk to be indicted and convicted for capital murder because the criminal principal, Martin, committed a sufficiently culpable killing. However, because Texas law does not require that an indictment to specify the theory of parties-based liability the State intends to use at trial, the indictment here alleged nothing about Petitioner’s own acts or culpability, nor gave him notice of how he could be held vicariously liable for Martin’s offense. During jury selection, Falk abruptly waived counsel and announced his desire to plead guilty. The indictment was the only information about the charge presented to Falk at the plea colloquy. Falk agreed to a stipulation that he had acted “alone or as a party,” but nothing in the record suggests that he understood what it meant to be a “party” to a Texas offense. The following questions are presented. (1) Given that Due Process requires that a guilty plea be “knowing and intelligent,” when a pro se defendant seeks to plead guilty to a death-eligible homicide charge arising from a killing actually committed by his codefendant, must he be informed of the prosecution’s theory of his own criminal liability for the death? (2) Does the Due Process Clause require special procedural safeguards for a pro se defendant who seeks to plead guilty in a capital case? i LIST OF RELATED DECISIONS Texas Criminal Proceedings State v. Falk, Cause No. 27,347 (278* Dist. Ct. Walker Co., Tex.) (state trial court proceeding) In re State ex rel. Weeks, 392 S.W.3d 280 (Tex.App.— Waco, Dec. 12, 2012) (pre-trial mandamus proceeding) In re State ex rel. Weeks, 391 S.W.3d 117 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (pre-trial mandamus proceeding) Falk v. State, No. AP-77,071, 2021 WL 2008967 (Tex. Crim. App. May 19, 2021) (unpublished) (Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision on direct appeal) ii