By:  De La Garza                                        H.B. No. 18
       73R1109 GWK-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the renunciation defense to the prosecution of the
    1-3  offense of engaging in organized criminal activity.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Sections 71.05(a) and (c), Penal Code, are
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
    1-8  Section 71.02 of this code that under circumstances manifesting a
    1-9  voluntary and complete renunciation of his criminal objective the
   1-10  actor withdrew from the combination before commission of an offense
   1-11  listed in Subdivisions (1) through (9) <(7)> of Subsection (a) of
   1-12  Section 71.02 of this code and took further affirmative action that
   1-13  prevented the commission of the offense.
   1-14        (c)  Evidence that the defendant withdrew from the
   1-15  combination before commission of an offense listed in Subdivisions
   1-16  (1) through (9) <(7)> of Subsection (a) of Section 71.02 of this
   1-17  code and made substantial effort to prevent the commission of an
   1-18  offense listed in Subdivisions (1) through (9) <(7)> of Subsection
   1-19  (a) of Section 71.02 of this code shall be admissible as mitigation
   1-20  at the hearing on punishment if he has been found guilty under
   1-21  Section 71.02 of this code, and in the event of a finding of
   1-22  renunciation under this subsection, the punishment shall be one
   1-23  grade lower than that provided under Section 71.02 of this code.
   1-24        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in the law made by this Act
    2-1  applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date
    2-2  of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
    2-3  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
    2-4  occurs before the effective date.
    2-5        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
    2-6  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
    2-7  and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
    2-8        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    2-9        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-10  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-11  emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
   2-12  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-13  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.