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78R17672 GWK-F


By:  West                                                         S.B. No. 1011

Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1011:                                   

By:  Keel                                                     C.S.S.B. No. 1011



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the questioning of prospective jurors during voir dire 
examination.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 35.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Sections 3 and 4 to read as follows:
	3.  The attorney representing the state and the attorney 
representing the defendant are entitled to conduct a meaningful 
voir dire examination.  Questions designed to elicit information 
necessary for both attorneys to intelligently exercise challenges 
for cause and for peremptory challenges shall be permitted.  By way 
of illustration only, a question asked during the voir dire 
examination is proper if the question attempts to discover the 
views of a prospective juror on an issue that is applicable to the 
case, and a question asked during the voir dire examination is not 
proper if the question attempts to commit a prospective juror to 
reaching a verdict based on particular facts.
	4.  This article is not intended to restrict a judge's 
authority to limit the duration of a voir dire examination to a 
reasonable period.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.