Texas ex rel. Tharp (Original)

The State sought the issuance a writ of mandamus to require a trial judge to submit the entire case--both guilt and punishment--to the jury after the defendant pled guilty to the jury. Cary Faulkner was charged with felony DWI. He reached an agreement with the State to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of four years in prison, a $2000 fine, a two-year driver's-license suspension, and a deadly-weapon finding. Judge Waldrip said he was not inclined to make a deadly-weapon finding so that he could have "all options available to us as need be." The prosecutor would not agree to remove the deadly-weapon finding from the plea agreement, even in exchange for the higher sentence of five years. Judge Waldrip asked why, and the prosecutor responded that, without the deadly-weapon finding, the defendant "would then be eligible for shock probation, and I have no plans for Mr. Faulkner being on probation." Ultimately, Judge Waldrip rejected the plea agreement and set the case for a jury trial. Before the beginning of trial, Faulkner elected to have the trial judge assess punishment. At trial, after the jury was sworn, Faulkner pled guilty. The prosecutor then asserted that Faulkner's plea rendered the trial a unitary proceeding, and therefore, the jury was to assess punishment. But Judge Waldrip ruled that punishment would be assessed by himself, not the jury. The State thereafter filed an application for emergency stay and a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Third Court of Appeals, which denied relief. The State then filed with the Supreme Court an application for emergency stay of the proceedings, a motion for leave to file a petition for a writ of mandamus, and a petition for a writ of mandamus. Upon review, the Supreme Court disagreed with Judge Waldrip's contention that the law did not clearly provide for the relief the State sought: both statute and caselaw were unequivocal that a plea of guilty causes the trial to become unitary. "Even if Faulkner pled not guilty, and that plea were accompanied by a defense concession at trial that Faulkner was in fact guilty, the jury would at least have something to decide, even if that decision seems like a foregone conclusion." The Court conditionally granted mandamus and directed Judge Waldrip to proceed with trial, submitting all relevant issues, including punishment, to the jury so long as Faulkner's plea of guilty remained in place.