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78R5601 KCR-D

By:  Phillips                                                     H.B. No. 2374



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the affirmative defense of insanity.                              
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 8.01, Penal Code, is amended by amending 
Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
	(a)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the 
time of the conduct charged, the actor:
		(1)  [,]  as a result of severe mental disease or 
defect, did not appreciate [know] that the actor's [his] conduct 
was wrong; or
		(2)  lacked the substantial capacity to conform the 
actor's conduct with the requirements of the law because the actor 
was experiencing symptoms of a serious mental illness.
	(c)  A serious mental illness is a condition diagnosed as 
such through the use of accepted scientific criteria.
	SECTION 2.  Section 1(e), Article 46.03, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(e)  The court shall instruct the jury on[, the attorney for 
the state, or the attorney for the defendant may not inform a juror 
or a prospective juror of] the consequences to the defendant if a 
verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is returned.
	SECTION 3.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 
offense committed on or after September 1, 2003. An offense 
committed before September 1, 2003, is covered by the law in effect 
when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.  For purposes of this subsection, an 
offense was committed before September 1, 2003, if any element of 
the offense was committed before that date.