Pena, Martin, WR-84,073-01

Background

Martin Pena pled guilty (Oct. 10, 2013) to possession with intent to deliver >400 grams of cocaine and received the 15-year statutory minimum; plea paperwork followed the indictment and omitted police reports.
During a traffic stop officers found 26 individually wrapped one‑kilogram packages in a cooler; HPD field test and lab report indicated cocaine presence, though HPD did not perform purity testing.
After the plea, federal investigation revealed HPD Officer Marcos (Miguel) Carrion participated in a drug‑swapping conspiracy: real drugs were stolen and replaced with sheetrock sprinkled with cocaine; Carrion pled guilty in federal court and was sentenced.
DEA testing of the seized packages in Pena’s case showed only trace amounts of cocaine in 16 packages and no cocaine in 10 packages; the State later issued a Brady notice disclosing these results.
The trial court found Carrion conspired to tamper with and fabricate evidence in Pena’s case, that Pena was unaware of this misconduct at the time of his plea, and recommended relief on the ground the plea was involuntary.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Pena’s guilty plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered given undisclosed officer misconduct	Pena: Plea involuntary because he lacked awareness that the seized "cocaine" was largely sheetrock with only trace cocaine due to Carrion’s swapping; he would not have pled to >400g if he had known	State/majority: Purity irrelevant to the statutory definition; statute includes adulterants/dilutants, so aggregate weight governs; Carrion’s misconduct did not make plea involuntary as a matter of law	Dissent would grant relief and allow plea withdrawal; the plurality denied relief (this opinion is a dissent)
Whether statutory definition of "controlled substance" makes sheetrock sprinkled with trace cocaine count toward aggregate cocaine weight	Pena: A corrupt officer should not be able to convert innocuous bulk into a higher‑level offense by sprinkling trace cocaine; the sheetrock may not be an "adulterant or dilutant" under the statute	State: Under Tex. Health & Safety Code §481.002(5), mixture or other substance containing a controlled substance is included; purity is immaterial to conviction	Dissent: Even if technically covered, the fact of egregious misconduct is material to voluntariness; disagrees with plurality statutory application
Whether Brady/materiality required disclosure before plea	Pena: The undisclosed fact of Carrion’s tampering was a crucial, material circumstance that would have affected decision to plead	State: Argued purity and composition were legally irrelevant to the conviction; thus nondisclosure did not render plea involuntary	Trial court found nondisclosure material; dissent agrees it was material and would grant relief (majority rejected)

Key Cases Cited

Ex parte Mable, 443 S.W.3d 129 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (guilty plea must be voluntary and made with awareness of relevant circumstances)
Ex parte Barnaby, 475 S.W.3d 316 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) (plea waives several constitutional rights; waiver must be voluntary and intelligent)
McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459 (1969) (defendant must understand law in relation to facts for a voluntary plea)
Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) (prosecutor must disclose materially exculpatory evidence)
United States v. Ruiz, 536 U.S. 622 (2002) (limits on what impeachment or other information must be disclosed before a plea)
Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969) (requirements for a valid guilty plea)