By: Thompson of Harris, et al. H.B. No. 1139
        (Senate Sponsor - Miles, West)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 30, 2019;
  May 1, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
  Justice; May 17, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;
  May 17, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1139 By:  Whitmire
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital
  offense committed by a person with an intellectual disability.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
  by adding Chapter 46E to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 46E. CAPITAL CASE: EFFECT OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
         Art. 46E.001.  RESTRICTION ON DEATH PENALTY. A defendant
  who is a person with an intellectual disability may not be sentenced
  to death.
         Art. 46E.002.  PREVAILING MEDICAL STANDARDS. Evidence
  offered by either party for purposes of determining whether a
  defendant is a person with an intellectual disability must be
  consistent with prevailing medical standards for the diagnosis of
  intellectual disabilities.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a trial that commences 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 September 1, 2019.
 
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