By: Eckels H.B. No. 765
73R146 DRH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to challenges for cause to jurors in a criminal case.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Article 35.16(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A challenge for cause is an objection made to a
1-7 particular juror, alleging some fact which renders him incapable or
1-8 unfit to serve on the jury. A challenge for cause may be made by
1-9 either the state or the defense for any one of the following
1-10 reasons:
1-11 1. That he is not a qualified voter in this state and
1-12 county under the Constitution and laws of the state; provided,
1-13 however, the failure to register to vote shall not be a
1-14 disqualification;
1-15 2. That he has been convicted of theft or any felony;
1-16 3. That he is under indictment or other legal
1-17 accusation for theft or any felony;
1-18 4. That he is insane;
1-19 5. That he has a mental or physical impairment that
1-20 renders him unsuitable or unfit for jury service <such defect in
1-21 the organs of feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect
1-22 or disease as to render him unfit for jury service, or that he is
1-23 legally blind and the court in its discretion is not satisfied that
1-24 he is fit for jury service in that particular case>;
2-1 6. That he is a witness in the case;
2-2 7. That he served on the grand jury which found the
2-3 indictment;
2-4 8. That he served on a petit jury in a former trial of
2-5 the same case;
2-6 9. That he has a bias or prejudice in favor of or
2-7 against the defendant;
2-8 10. That from hearsay, or otherwise, there is
2-9 established in the mind of the juror such a conclusion as to the
2-10 guilt or innocence of the defendant as would influence him in his
2-11 action in finding a verdict. To ascertain whether this cause of
2-12 challenge exists, the juror shall first be asked whether, in his
2-13 opinion, the conclusion so established will influence his verdict.
2-14 If he answers in the affirmative, he shall be discharged without
2-15 further interrogation by either party or the court. If he answers
2-16 in the negative, he shall be further examined as to how his
2-17 conclusion was formed, and the extent to which it will affect his
2-18 action; and, if it appears to have been formed from reading
2-19 newspaper accounts, communications, statements or reports or mere
2-20 rumor or hearsay, and if the juror states that he feels able,
2-21 notwithstanding such opinion, to render an impartial verdict upon
2-22 the law and the evidence, the court, if satisfied that he is
2-23 impartial and will render such verdict, may, in its discretion,
2-24 admit him as competent to serve in such case. If the court, in its
2-25 discretion, is not satisfied that he is impartial, the juror shall
2-26 be discharged;
2-27 11. That he cannot read or write.
3-1 No juror shall be impaneled when it appears that he is
3-2 subject to the second, third or fourth grounds of challenge for
3-3 cause set forth above, although both parties may consent. All
3-4 other grounds for challenge may be waived by the party or parties
3-5 in whose favor such grounds of challenge exist.
3-6 <In this subsection "legally blind" shall mean having not
3-7 more than 20/200 of visual acuity in the better eye with correcting
3-8 lenses, or visual acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation
3-9 in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual
3-10 field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.>
3-11 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
3-12 to persons who are prospective jurors on or after the effective
3-13 date of this Act. A person who has taken an oath as a juror before
3-14 the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when
3-15 the oath was taken, and the former law is continued in effect for
3-16 this purpose.
3-17 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.