BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 322

By: Cortez

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current case law, when a defendant is charged with a crime and found not guilty by reason of insanity, they are assumed to be insane by default if charged with another crime in the future. According to an assistant district attorney in House District 117, this creates unnecessary hardships for prosecutors. H.B. 322 seeks to address this issue by removing the prior assumption of insanity for a defendant in future cases, and mandating a pre-trial assessment by a certified mental health professional to be conducted to assess the insanity or sanity of the defendant in such cases. This change will more accurately reflect any changes in the mental health of the defendant and shift the burden of proof back to the defense.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 322 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to specify the following with respect to determining a defendant's incompetency to stand trial or a defendant's insanity in a criminal case:

· the presumption of the defendant's competency and the burden of proof to establish the defendant's incompetency by a preponderance of evidence each apply in the trial of the case regardless of any finding of the defendant's incompetency to stand trial in a previous case; and

· the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant was insane at the time of the alleged conduct applies in a defendant's case regardless of any previous acquittal of the defendant by reason of insanity or another prior judgment of a court indicating the defendant's lack of sanity.

The bill applies only to a trial or case relating to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date. The bill provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of a trial or case relating to an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.