H.B. 614 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


H.B. 614
By: Keel
Criminal Jurisprudence
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia, 536
U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), that executing people
with mental retardation constitutes unconstitutionally cruel and unusual
punishment.  In regard to determining which offenders are persons with
mental retardation, the Atkins court decided to "leave to the State (s)
the task of developing appropriate ways to enforce the constitutional
restriction upon its execution of sentences." 

House Bill 614 enables a defendant in a capital case in which the state
seeks the death penalty to raise mental retardation as a special issue to
be determined by a jury in the punishment phase of trial.  If the
defendant is convicted of capital murder, H.B. 614 requires a trial court
to sentence a defendant found by a jury to be a person with mental
retardation to confinement in the institutional division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice for life. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 614 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to enable a defendant
in a capital case in which the state seeks the death penalty to raise
mental retardation as a special issue to be determined by a jury in the
punishment phase of trial. Evidence regarding mental retardation may
include evidence of the circumstances of the offense or other crimes,
wrongs, or acts. If the defendant is convicted of capital murder, H.B. 614
requires a trial court to sentence a defendant, who found by a jury to be
a person with mental retardation, to confinement in the institutional
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2003.