By De La Garza, et al. H.B. No. 24
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the commission of and prosecution and punishment for
1-3 the offense of criminal solicitation.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 15.03, Penal Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 15.03. Criminal Solicitation. (a) A person commits an
1-8 offense if:
1-9 (1) <,> with intent that a capital felony or felony of
1-10 the first degree be committed, he requests, commands, or attempts
1-11 to induce another to engage in specific conduct that, under the
1-12 circumstances surrounding his conduct as the actor believes them to
1-13 be, would constitute the felony or make the other a party to its
1-14 commission; or
1-15 (2) with intent that a felony be committed, he
1-16 requests, commands, or attempts to induce a child to engage in
1-17 specific conduct that, under the circumstances surrounding the
1-18 conduct of the child as the actor believes them to be, would
1-19 constitute the felony or make the child a party to its commission.
1-20 (b) A person may not be convicted under this section <on the
1-21 uncorroborated testimony of the person allegedly solicited and>
1-22 unless the solicitation is made under circumstances strongly
1-23 corroborative of both the solicitation itself and the actor's
1-24 intent that the other person act on the solicitation.
2-1 (c) It is no defense to prosecution under this section that:
2-2 (1) the person solicited is not criminally responsible
2-3 for the felony solicited;
2-4 (2) the person solicited has been acquitted, has not
2-5 been prosecuted or convicted, has been convicted of a different
2-6 offense or of a different type or class of offense, or is immune
2-7 from prosecution;
2-8 (3) the actor belongs to a class of persons that by
2-9 definition of the felony solicited is legally incapable of
2-10 committing the offense in an individual capacity; or
2-11 (4) the felony solicited was actually committed.
2-12 (d) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) of this section is:
2-13 (1) a felony of the first degree if the offense
2-14 solicited is a capital offense; or
2-15 (2) a felony of the second degree if the offense
2-16 solicited is a felony of the first degree.
2-17 (e) An offense under Subsection (a)(2) of this section is a
2-18 felony of the same degree as the most serious offense solicited.
2-19 (f) In this section, "child" is defined as any person under
2-20 the age of 17.
2-21 SECTION 2. (a) The change in the law made by this Act
2-22 applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date
2-23 of this Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
2-24 before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
2-25 occurs before the effective date.
2-26 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-27 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-1 and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
3-2 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.