Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB147 by Dutton (Relating to the extent of a defendant's criminal responsibility for the conduct of a coconspirator in certain felony cases.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions for criminal offenses are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit a sentence of death for a defendant found guilty of a capital felony through criminal responsibility for the conduct of another.
In fiscal year 2016, 333 individuals were arrested for a capital felony and fewer than 10 were admitted into state correctional institutions with death penalty sentences. Data collected at the statewide level do not contain the detail necessary to isolate those individuals arrested and sentenced to death under the circumstances in which the death penalty would be prohibited. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant reduction on the demand for state correctional resources.