| |
| |
|
|
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. |