79R1037 RMB-D

By:  Ellis                                                        S.B. No. 741



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the decertification of a capital case.                            
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 37, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Article 37.072 to read as follows:
	Art. 37.072.  DECERTIFICATION AS A CAPITAL CASE.  (a)  In 
this section, "inmate informant" means a person who is purporting 
to testify about admissions made to the person by the defendant 
while confined contemporaneously in a penal institution.
	(b)  In a case in which the defendant has been found guilty of 
a capital felony and the state seeks the death penalty, or in a case 
in which the death penalty has been imposed that is on remand for 
resentencing, the court, on the court's own motion or the written 
motion of the defendant, may decertify the case as a capital case if 
the court finds that the only evidence supporting the defendant's 
conviction is uncorroborated testimony of an inmate informant or a 
single eyewitness or single accomplice.
	(c)  If the court decertifies the case as a capital case 
under Subsection (b), the court shall issue a written finding.  The 
state may appeal the decertification.
	(d)  If the court does not decertify the case as a capital 
case, the matter shall proceed to the death eligibility phase of the 
sentencing hearing.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to a capital case in which the voir dire examination begins on or 
after the effective date of this Act.  A capital case in which the 
voir dire examination begins before the effective date of this Act 
is covered by the law in effect when the examination begins, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.