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78S10041 KEL-D
By: Ellis S.B. No. 13
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital
offense committed by a person with mental retardation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The Code of Criminal Procedure is amended by
adding Chapter 46C to read as follows:
CHAPTER 46C. CAPITAL CASE: EFFECT OF MENTAL RETARDATION
Art. 46C.01. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "mental
retardation" has the meaning assigned by Section 591.003, Health
and Safety Code.
Art. 46C.02. RESTRICTION ON DEATH PENALTY. Notwithstanding
Section 19.03(b), Penal Code, or Article 37.071, a defendant who at
the time of commission of a capital offense was a person with
mental retardation may not be sentenced to death.
Art. 46C.03. HEARING. (a) Counsel for a defendant in a
capital case, at any time before the trial commences, may request
that the judge hearing the case hold a hearing to determine whether
the defendant was a person with mental retardation at the time of
the commission of the alleged offense.
(b) On receipt of a request under Subsection (a), the judge
shall notify all interested parties of the request. If the judge
determines that there is evidence to support a finding of mental
retardation, a jury shall be impaneled to determine whether the
defendant was a person with mental retardation at the time of the
commission of the offense. A defendant may waive the right to jury
determination under this subsection and request that the judge make
the determination.
(c) Instructions to the jury submitting the issue of mental
retardation shall require the jury to state in its verdict whether
the defendant was a person with mental retardation at the time of
the commission of the alleged offense.
(d) If the jury is unable to agree on a unanimous verdict
after a reasonable opportunity to deliberate, the judge shall
declare a mistrial, discharge the jury, and impanel another jury to
determine whether the defendant was a person with mental
retardation at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
(e) At the conclusion of the hearing under this article, the
judge shall dismiss the jury, and the members of that jury may not
serve on a jury in the subsequent trial of the case.
Art. 46C.04. BURDEN OF PROOF. (a) At a hearing under this
chapter, the burden is on the defendant to prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that the defendant was a person with mental
retardation at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
(b) A defendant who has an intelligence quotient of 70 or
less is presumed to be a person who was a person with mental
retardation at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
(c) The state may offer evidence to rebut the presumption of
mental retardation or the defendant's claim.
Art. 46C.05. SENTENCING ALTERNATIVES. (a) If the judge or
jury, whichever is the finder of fact, determines that the
defendant was a person with mental retardation at the time of the
commission of the alleged offense and the defendant is subsequently
convicted of the offense, Article 37.071 does not apply to the
defendant, and the judge shall sentence the defendant to life
imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice.
(b) If the judge or jury, whichever is the finder of fact,
determines that the defendant was not a person with mental
retardation at the time of the commission of the alleged offense,
the judge shall conduct the trial in the same manner as if a hearing
under this chapter had not been held. At the trial of the offense:
(1) the jury may not be informed of the fact that the
judge or a jury has determined under this article that the defendant
was not a person with mental retardation; and
(2) the defendant may present at trial evidence of
mental disability as permitted by Article 37.071.
(c) The judge or jury, whichever is the finder of fact,
must, before the trial of the offense under Section 19.03, Penal
Code, commences, make the determination described by Subsection
(b).
Art. 46C.06. APPOINTMENT OF DISINTERESTED EXPERTS. On the
request of either party or on the judge's own motion, the judge
shall appoint disinterested experts experienced and qualified in
the field of diagnosing mental retardation to examine the defendant
and determine whether the defendant is a person with mental
retardation. The judge may order the defendant to submit to an
examination by experts appointed under this article.
Art. 46C.07. INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL. (a) The defendant and
the state are entitled to appeal a determination described by
Article 46C.05(b).
(b) The court of criminal appeals shall adopt rules as
necessary for the administration of the appeals process established
by this article.
(c) An appeal under this article is a direct appeal to the
court of criminal appeals, and the court of criminal appeals, as
provided by court rule, shall give priority to the review of an
appeal under this article over other cases before the court.
SECTION 2. Chapter 6, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 6.05 to read as follows:
Sec. 6.05. MENTAL RETARDATION AFFECTING DEATH SENTENCE. (a)
In this section, "mental retardation" has the meaning assigned by
Section 591.003, Health and Safety Code.
(b) A person may not be punished by death for an offense
committed while the person was a person with mental retardation.
(c) A person who is sentenced to death at a trial that
commences before November 1, 2003, may submit to the convicting
court a motion for a hearing on the issue of mental retardation, to
be conducted in the same manner as a hearing under Chapter 46C, Code
of Criminal Procedure. On a finding by the court that documentary
evidence supports an assertion that the person is a person with
mental retardation, the court may order a hearing that, except for
occurring after sentencing, is conducted in the same manner as a
hearing under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure. After making
a finding as to whether the person is a person with mental
retardation, the court shall immediately forward a copy of the
finding to the court of criminal appeals.
SECTION 3. Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, applies only to a trial that commences on or
after the effective date of this Act regardless of whether the
alleged offense was committed before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect November 1, 2003.