By Dutton H.B. No. 1328
77R5658 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the setting of an execution date in a capital case.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 5(b), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal
1-5 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 (b) If the convicting court receives a subsequent
1-7 application, the clerk of the court shall:
1-8 (1) attach a notation that the application is a
1-9 subsequent application;
1-10 (2) assign to the case a file number that is ancillary
1-11 to that of the conviction being challenged; and
1-12 (3) immediately send to the court of criminal appeals
1-13 a copy of:
1-14 (A) the application;
1-15 (B) the notation; and
1-16 (C) [the order scheduling the applicant's
1-17 execution, if scheduled; and]
1-18 [(D)] any order the judge of the convicting
1-19 court directs to be attached to the application.
1-20 SECTION 2. Article 43.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-21 amended to read as follows:
1-22 Art. 43.15. WARRANT OF EXECUTION. (a) The court of
1-23 criminal appeals shall issue, as soon as practicable after the
1-24 following date, a warrant for the execution of an inmate whose
2-1 conviction has been affirmed by the court:
2-2 (1) the date the court denies relief to the inmate
2-3 under Article 11.071, if the inmate files an initial application
2-4 for a writ of habeas corpus under that article that is a timely
2-5 application under Section 4 of that article; or
2-6 (2) the date any initial application for a writ of
2-7 habeas corpus filed by the inmate under Article 11.071 would be an
2-8 untimely application under Section 4.
2-9 (b) If in response to a subsequent application for a writ of
2-10 habeas corpus under Article 11.071 the court issues a stay of
2-11 execution, or if a stay of the execution is ordered for any reason
2-12 by the court of criminal appeals or a federal court, the court of
2-13 criminal appeals on resolution of all issues may issue a new
2-14 warrant of execution.
2-15 (c) A warrant issued under this article shall be issued to
2-16 the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
2-17 and shall state the fact of the conviction and the date on which
2-18 the inmate is to be executed.
2-19 [Whenever any person is sentenced to death, the clerk of the
2-20 court in which the sentence is pronounced, shall within ten days
2-21 after the court enters its order setting the date for execution,
2-22 issue a warrant under the seal of the court for the execution of
2-23 the sentence of death, which shall recite the fact of conviction,
2-24 setting forth specifically the offense, the judgment of the court,
2-25 the time fixed for his execution, and directed to the Director of
2-26 the Department of Corrections at Huntsville, Texas, commanding him
2-27 to proceed, at the time and place named in the order of execution,
3-1 to carry the same into execution, as provided in the preceding
3-2 Article, and shall deliver such warrant to the sheriff of the
3-3 county in which such judgment of conviction was had, to be by him
3-4 delivered to the said Director of the Department of Corrections,
3-5 together with the condemned person if he has not previously been so
3-6 delivered.]
3-7 SECTION 3. Article 43.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-8 amended to read as follows:
3-9 Art. 43.22. ESCAPE FROM TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
3-10 [CORRECTIONS]. If the condemned person escapes after his delivery
3-11 to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Director of the
3-12 Department of Corrections], and is not retaken before the time
3-13 appointed for his execution, any person may arrest and commit him
3-14 to the department [Director of the Department of Corrections]
3-15 whereupon the executive director [Director of the Department of
3-16 Corrections] shall certify the fact of his escape and recapture to
3-17 the court in which sentence was passed; and the court of criminal
3-18 appeals[, either in term-time or vacation,] shall again appoint a
3-19 time for the execution which shall not be less than thirty days
3-20 from the date of such appointment; and thereupon the clerk of such
3-21 court shall certify such appointment to the department, which
3-22 [Director of the Department of Corrections, who] shall proceed at
3-23 the time so appointed to execute the condemned, as hereinabove
3-24 provided. [The sheriff or other officer or other person performing
3-25 any service under this and the preceding Article shall receive the
3-26 same compensation as is provided for similar services under the
3-27 provisions of Articles 1029 or 1030 of the Code of Criminal
4-1 Procedure of 1925, as amended.] If for any reason execution is
4-2 delayed beyond the date set, then the court of criminal appeals
4-3 [which originally sentenced the defendant] may set a later date for
4-4 execution.
4-5 SECTION 4. Article 46.04(k), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
4-6 added by Chapter 654, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
4-7 Session, 1999, is amended to read as follows:
4-8 (k) If, on the basis of reports provided under Subsection
4-9 (i), the motion, any attached documents, any responsive pleadings,
4-10 and any evidence introduced in the final competency hearing, the
4-11 trial court makes a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that
4-12 the defendant is incompetent to be executed, the clerk shall send
4-13 immediately to the court of criminal appeals in accordance with
4-14 Section 8(d), Article 11.071, the appropriate documents for that
4-15 court's determination of whether any existing execution date
4-16 previously set by the court of criminal appeals should be withdrawn
4-17 and a stay of execution issued. If a stay of execution is issued
4-18 by the court of criminal appeals, the trial court periodically
4-19 shall order that the defendant be reexamined by mental health
4-20 experts to determine whether the defendant is no longer incompetent
4-21 to be executed.
4-22 SECTION 5. (a) Articles 42.04 and 43.141, Code of Criminal
4-23 Procedure, are repealed.
4-24 (b) Subsection (l), Article 46.04, Code of Criminal
4-25 Procedure, as added by Chapter 654, Acts of the 76th Legislature,
4-26 Regular Session, 1999, is repealed.
4-27 SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
5-1 only to the execution of an inmate convicted of a capital offense
5-2 for whom:
5-3 (1) no execution date exists on the effective date of
5-4 this Act; or
5-5 (2) an execution date exists on the effective date of
5-6 this Act but on the effective date is subject to a stay of
5-7 execution.
5-8 (b) For an inmate other than an inmate described by
5-9 Subsection (a), the law applicable to the inmate is the law as it
5-10 existed on the date on which the execution date was set, and the
5-11 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-12 (c) The court of criminal appeals may not set an execution
5-13 date for an inmate that is before September 1, 2003.
5-14 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
5-15 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
5-16 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
5-17 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
5-18 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.