By Naishtat                                            H.B. No. 150
         76R202 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to jury instructions and charges in capital cases.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 2(e), Article 37.071, Code of Criminal
 1-5     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (e)(1)  The court shall instruct the jury that if the jury
 1-7     returns an affirmative finding to each issue submitted under
 1-8     Subsection (b) of this article, it shall answer the following
 1-9     issue:
1-10           Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence,
1-11     including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's
1-12     character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the
1-13     defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or
1-14     circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment
1-15     rather than a death sentence be imposed.
1-16                 (2)  The court, on the written request of the attorney
1-17     representing the defendant, shall:
1-18                       (A)  instruct the jury that if the jury answers
1-19     that a circumstance or circumstances warrant that a sentence of
1-20     life imprisonment rather than a death sentence be imposed, the
1-21     court will sentence the defendant to imprisonment in the
1-22     institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
1-23     for life; and
1-24                       (B)  charge the jury in writing as follows:
 2-1                       "Under the law applicable in this case, if the
 2-2     defendant is sentenced to imprisonment in the institutional
 2-3     division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, the
 2-4     defendant will become eligible for release on parole, but not until
 2-5     the actual time served by the defendant equals 40 years, without
 2-6     consideration of any good conduct time.  It cannot accurately be
 2-7     predicted how the parole laws might be applied to this defendant if
 2-8     the defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for life
 2-9     because the application of those laws will depend on decisions made
2-10     by prison and parole authorities, but eligibility for parole does
2-11     not guarantee that parole will be granted."
2-12           SECTION 2.  Section 3(e), Article 37.0711, Code of Criminal
2-13     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
2-14           (e)(1)  The court shall instruct the jury that if the jury
2-15     returns an affirmative finding on each issue submitted under
2-16     Subsection (b) of  this section, it shall answer the following
2-17     issue:
2-18           Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence,
2-19     including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's
2-20     character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the
2-21     defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or
2-22     circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment
2-23     rather than a death sentence be imposed.
2-24                 (2)  The court, on the written request of the attorney
2-25     representing the defendant, shall:
2-26                       (A)  instruct the jury that if the jury answers
2-27     that a circumstance or circumstances warrant that a sentence of
 3-1     life imprisonment rather than a death sentence be imposed, the
 3-2     court will sentence the defendant to imprisonment in the
 3-3     institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
 3-4     for life; and
 3-5                       (B)  charge the jury in writing as follows:
 3-6                       "Under the law applicable in this case, if the
 3-7     defendant is sentenced to imprisonment in the institutional
 3-8     division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, the
 3-9     defendant will become eligible for release on parole, but not until
3-10     the actual time served by the defendant equals 40 years, without
3-11     consideration of any good conduct time.  It cannot accurately be
3-12     predicted how the parole laws might be applied to this defendant if
3-13     the defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for life
3-14     because the application of those laws will depend on decisions made
3-15     by prison and parole authorities, but eligibility for parole does
3-16     not guarantee that parole will be granted."
3-17           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
3-18     in a capital case only to a sentencing proceeding that begins on or
3-19     after the effective date of this Act.
3-20           (b)  A sentencing proceeding that begins before the effective
3-21     date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
3-22     sentencing proceeding began, and the former law is continued in
3-23     effect for that purpose.
3-24           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-26     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-27     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 4-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 4-2     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 4-3     passage, and it is so enacted.