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Question
In a capital offense case (murder with qualifying circumstances), the arraignment proceeds in open court with the accused, represented by counsel. After a brief colloquy, the judge accepts the accused’s plea of “Guilty” and signs a plea form indicating waiver of defenses. The court immediately convicts and imposes sentence based solely on the pleaded admission, with no prosecution evidence presented and no in-court elicitation of the facts constituting the offense. The defense objects that there was no proper inquiry into voluntariness and no record of the facts constituting the offense, but the court proceeds to judgment. (a) Identify the controlling rule on guilty pleas in capital offenses. (b) Distinguish how a guilty plea in capital offenses is treated differently from a guilty plea in non-capital offenses. (c) Apply the rule to the facts and state whether the conviction is valid or void, and explain the proper remedy if void.