| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance |
|
|
or marihuana causing death or serious bodily injury; creating a |
|
|
criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 481.122(c), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
|
|
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if |
|
|
it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person to whom the |
|
|
actor delivered the controlled substance or marihuana died or |
|
|
suffered serious bodily injury as a result of injecting, ingesting, |
|
|
inhaling, or introducing into the person's body any amount of the |
|
|
controlled substance or marihuana manufactured or delivered by the |
|
|
actor, regardless of whether the controlled substance or marihuana |
|
|
was used by itself or with another substance, including a drug, |
|
|
adulterant, or dilutant. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 481.141, Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 481.141. OFFENSE: MANUFACTURE OR DELIVERY OF |
|
|
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE CAUSING DEATH OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. (a) A |
|
|
person commits an offense if the person knowingly manufactures or |
|
|
delivers a controlled substance in violation of this chapter and |
|
|
[If at the guilt or innocence phase of the trial of an offense |
|
|
described by Subsection (b), the judge or jury, whichever is the |
|
|
trier of fact, determines beyond a reasonable doubt that] a person |
|
|
dies [died] or suffers [suffered] serious bodily injury as a result |
|
|
of injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or introducing into the person's |
|
|
body any amount of the controlled substance manufactured or |
|
|
delivered by the actor [defendant], regardless of whether the |
|
|
controlled substance was used by itself or with another substance, |
|
|
including a drug, adulterant, or dilutant[, the punishment for the |
|
|
offense is increased by one degree]. |
|
|
(b) An offense under this section is: |
|
|
(1) [This section applies to an offense otherwise |
|
|
punishable as] a [state jail felony,] felony of the third degree if |
|
|
the commission of the offense resulted in serious bodily injury to a |
|
|
person; or |
|
|
(2) a [, or] felony of the second degree if the |
|
|
commission of the offense resulted in the death of a person [under |
|
|
Section 481.112, 481.1121, 481.1123, 481.113, 481.114, or |
|
|
481.122]. |
|
|
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that |
|
|
the actor's conduct in manufacturing or delivering the controlled |
|
|
substance was authorized under this chapter or other state or |
|
|
federal law. |
|
|
(d) If conduct constituting an offense under this section |
|
|
also constitutes an offense under another section of this chapter |
|
|
or the Penal Code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section |
|
|
or both sections. |
|
|
(e) Notwithstanding Article 42.08, Code of Criminal |
|
|
Procedure, if [punishment for] a defendant is convicted of an |
|
|
offense [increased] under this section, the court may not order the |
|
|
sentence for the offense to run concurrently with any other |
|
|
sentence the court imposes on the defendant. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
|
|
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
|
|
by the law in effect on the date 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. |