85S10652 ADM-D
 
  By: Rose H.B. No. 136
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital
  offense committed by a person with severe mental illness.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
  by adding Chapter 46D to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 46D. CAPITAL CASE: EFFECT OF SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS
         Art. 46D.001.  DEFINITION. In this chapter, "person with
  severe mental illness" means a person who has a psychiatric illness
  listed in Section 1355.001(1), Insurance Code, and as a result of
  that illness has active psychotic symptoms that substantially
  impair the person's capacity to:
               (1)  appreciate the nature, consequences, or
  wrongfulness of the person's conduct;
               (2)  exercise rational judgment in relation to the
  person's conduct; or
               (3)  conform the person's conduct to the requirements
  of the law.
         Art. 46D.002.  RESTRICTION ON DEATH PENALTY. A defendant
  who at the time of commission of a capital offense was a person with
  severe mental illness may not be sentenced to death.
         Art. 46D.003.  HEARING. (a)  Not later than the 30th day
  before the date trial begins, counsel for a defendant in a capital
  case may file notice requesting that the judge hearing the case hold
  a hearing to determine whether the defendant was a person with
  severe mental illness at the time of the commission of the alleged
  offense.
         (b)  Notice filed under Subsection (a) must be accompanied by
  evidence supporting the claim that the defendant was a person with
  severe mental illness at the time of the commission of the alleged
  offense.
         (c)  If the defendant does not file timely notice as provided
  by Subsection (a), the court may not hold a hearing under this
  article unless the court finds that good cause existed for failure
  to file timely notice.
         (d)  On receipt of notice under Subsection (a), the judge
  shall notify all interested parties of the notice. If the judge
  determines that the notice was timely and was accompanied by the
  supporting evidence required by Subsection (b), a jury shall be
  impaneled to determine whether the defendant was a person with
  severe mental illness at the time of the commission of the alleged
  offense. A defendant may waive the right to jury determination
  under this subsection and request that the judge make the
  determination if the judge and the prosecuting attorney do not
  object.
         (e)  If the judge finds that the notice was not timely filed
  or was not accompanied by the supporting evidence required by
  Subsection (b), the judge shall:
               (1)  deny the defendant's request;
               (2)  make written findings of fact explaining the
  grounds for denial;
               (3)  provide the findings of fact to all interested
  parties; and
               (4)  file a copy of the findings of fact with the papers
  in the case.
         (f)  Instructions submitted to the jury on the issue of
  severe mental illness shall require the jury to state in its verdict
  whether the defendant was a person with severe mental illness at the
  time of the commission of the alleged offense.
         (g)  If the jury is unable to agree on a unanimous verdict
  after a reasonable opportunity to deliberate, the judge shall
  declare a mistrial, discharge the jury, and impanel another jury to
  determine whether the defendant was a person with severe mental
  illness at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
         (h)  At the conclusion of the hearing under this article, the
  judge shall dismiss the jury, and the members of that jury may not
  serve on a jury in any subsequent trial of the case.
         Art. 46D.004.  BURDEN OF PROOF. At a hearing under this
  chapter, the burden is on the defendant to prove by a preponderance
  of the evidence that the defendant was a person with severe mental
  illness at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
         Art. 46D.005.  PRESUMPTION OF SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS. (a) A
  determination made before the commission of the alleged offense by
  a qualified institution or individual, including a psychologist, an
  educational institution, a local intellectual and developmental
  disability authority, the United States Social Security
  Administration, a court, or another governmental agency or social
  service provider, that a defendant had symptoms of a psychiatric
  illness listed in Section 1355.001(1), Insurance Code, creates an
  evidentiary presumption that the defendant was a person with severe
  mental illness at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.
         (b)  The state may offer evidence to rebut a presumption of
  severe mental illness.
         Art. 46D.006.  SENTENCING ALTERNATIVES. (a) If the judge or
  jury, whichever is the finder of fact, determines that the
  defendant was a person with severe mental illness at the time of the
  commission of the alleged offense and the defendant is subsequently
  convicted of capital murder, Article 37.071 does not apply to the
  defendant, and the judge shall sentence the defendant to
  imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life
  without parole.
         (b)  If the judge or jury, whichever is the finder of fact,
  determines that the defendant was not a person with severe mental
  illness at the time of the commission of the alleged offense, the
  judge shall conduct the trial in the same manner as if a hearing
  under this chapter had not been held. At the trial of the offense:
               (1)  the jury may not be informed of the fact that the
  judge or a jury has determined under this chapter that the defendant
  was not a person with severe mental illness; and
               (2)  the defendant may present evidence of mental
  disability as permitted by Article 37.071.
         (c)  The judge or jury, whichever is the finder of fact, must
  make any determination described by this article before the date
  the trial of the alleged capital offense begins.
         Art. 46D.007.  APPOINTMENT OF DISINTERESTED EXPERTS. (a) On
  the request of either party or on the judge's own motion, the judge
  shall appoint one or more disinterested experts experienced and
  qualified in the field of diagnosing mental illness to examine the
  defendant and determine whether the defendant is a person with
  severe mental illness.
         (b)  The judge may, after giving proper notice to the
  defendant, order the defendant to submit to an examination by
  experts appointed under this article.
         (c)  An examination described by this article:
               (1)  must be narrowly tailored to determine whether the
  defendant has the specific illness claimed; and
               (2)  may not include:
                     (A)  any discussion of the alleged offense;
                     (B)  personality or intellectual testing; or
                     (C)  a future danger assessment.
         (d)  An expert appointed under this article must provide the
  counsel for the defendant with all underlying notes and data
  related to the examination.
         Art. 46D.008.  STATEMENTS NOT ADMISSIBLE. No statement made
  by the defendant in a hearing or examination under this chapter may
  be admitted into evidence during the trial of the alleged offense.
         Art. 46D.009.  INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL. Neither the defendant
  nor the state is entitled to an interlocutory appeal of a
  determination made under this chapter.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 46D, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  added by this Act, applies only to a trial that begins on or after
  the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the alleged
  offense was committed before, on, or after that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect December 1, 2017.