88R114 TSS-D
 
  By: Cortez H.B. No. 322
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain evidentiary presumptions and burdens of proof
  in determining a defendant's incompetency to stand trial or a
  defendant's insanity in a criminal case.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 46B.003, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  The presumption of the defendant's competency and the
  burden of proof to establish the defendant's incompetency as
  described by Subsection (b) each apply in the trial of the case
  regardless of any finding of the defendant's incompetency to stand
  trial in a previous case.
         SECTION 2.  Article 46C.153, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  The burden of proof described by Subsection (a)(2)
  applies in a defendant's case regardless of any previous acquittal
  of the defendant by reason of insanity or another prior judgment of
  a court indicating the defendant's lack of sanity.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a trial or case relating to an offense committed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. A trial or case relating to an offense
  committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
  an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
  any element of the offense occurred before that date.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.