| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to creating the offense of continuous violence against the |
|
|
family. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 25, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 25.11 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 25.11. CONTINUOUS VIOLENCE AGAINST THE FAMILY. (a) A |
|
|
person commits an offense if, during a period that is 12 months or |
|
|
less in duration, the person two or more times engages in conduct |
|
|
that results in bodily injury to another person or persons whose |
|
|
relationship to or association with the defendant is described by |
|
|
Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code. |
|
|
(b) If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are |
|
|
not required to agree unanimously on the specific conduct in which |
|
|
the defendant engaged that resulted in bodily injury to the person |
|
|
or persons described by Subsection (a) or the exact date when that |
|
|
conduct occurred. The jury must agree unanimously that the |
|
|
defendant, during a period that is 12 months or less in duration, |
|
|
two or more times engaged in conduct that resulted in bodily injury |
|
|
to the person or persons described by Subsection (a). |
|
|
(c) A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal |
|
|
action of another offense the victim of which is an alleged victim |
|
|
of the offense under Subsection (a) and an element of which is any |
|
|
conduct that is alleged as an element of the offense under |
|
|
Subsection (a) unless the other offense: |
|
|
(1) is charged in the alternative; |
|
|
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense |
|
|
alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or |
|
|
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser |
|
|
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a). |
|
|
(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count |
|
|
under Subsection (a) if all of the specific conduct that is alleged |
|
|
to have been engaged in is alleged to have been committed against a |
|
|
single victim or members of the same household, as defined by |
|
|
Section 71.005, Family Code. |
|
|
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third |
|
|
degree. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 22.01(b), Penal Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A |
|
|
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree |
|
|
if the offense is committed against: |
|
|
(1) a person the actor knows is a public servant while |
|
|
the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in |
|
|
retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or |
|
|
performance of an official duty as a public servant; |
|
|
(2) a person whose relationship to or association with |
|
|
the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or |
|
|
71.005, Family Code, if it is shown on the trial of the offense that |
|
|
the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under |
|
|
this chapter, Chapter 19, or Section 20.03, 20.04, [or] 21.11, or |
|
|
25.11 against a person whose relationship to or association with |
|
|
the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or |
|
|
71.005, Family Code; |
|
|
(3) a person who contracts with government to perform |
|
|
a service in a facility as defined by Section 1.07(a)(14), Penal |
|
|
Code, or Section 51.02(13) or (14), Family Code, or an employee of |
|
|
that person: |
|
|
(A) while the person or employee is engaged in |
|
|
performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the actor |
|
|
knows the person or employee is authorized by government to provide |
|
|
the service; or |
|
|
(B) in retaliation for or on account of the |
|
|
person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of |
|
|
the contract; |
|
|
(4) a person the actor knows is a security officer |
|
|
while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer; or |
|
|
(5) a person the actor knows is emergency services |
|
|
personnel while the person is providing emergency services. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act 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 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |