BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

H.B. 727

By: Rose

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that it was unconstitutional to execute someone who is deemed insane. This decision left the determination of insanity and competency for execution up to each state; however, it has not prevented the execution of offenders with severe and persistent mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. In recent years the U.S. Supreme Court has outlawed the death penalty for juvenile offenders and for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Yet, protections that currently exist in Texas for an individual living with severe mental illness do not include an exemption from execution. Individuals with severe mental illnesses run a higher risk of being executed, typically as a result of their bending to police pressure, firing their counsel and representing themselves, refusing to participate in their own defense, and wrongful convictions. H.B. 727 seeks to create protections for defendants with severe mental illness in capital cases from being sentenced to death and sets out a process for courts to assess whether a defendant had a severe mental illness at the time of the capital offense.

 

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. 727 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on a defendant who was a person with severe mental illness at the time of the commission of a capital offense. The bill requires a defendant planning to offer evidence of such to file with the court not later than the 30th day before the date the trial is scheduled to begin a notice of intention to offer that evidence. The notice must contain a certification that a copy of the notice has been served on the state's attorney. If the notice is not timely filed, the evidence is not admissible at the guilt or innocence stage unless the court finds that good cause exists for failure to give notice. The bill requires the following with regard to the issue of whether the defendant was a person with severe mental illness at the time of the commission of the alleged offense:

·         the issue to be submitted to the jury only if supported by evidence;

·         the jury to determine the issue and return a special verdict that is separate from its verdict on the issue of guilt or innocence; and

·         the defendant to prove that the defendant was a person with severe mental illness by clear and convincing evidence.

 

H.B. 727 requires the judge, on their own motion or on either party's request, to appoint a disinterested expert 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. After notifying the defendant, the judge may order the defendant to submit to such an examination. The bill sets out the requirements for the examination and requires an appointed expert to provide the defendant's attorney and the state's attorney with all notes and data from the examination. The bill prohibits a defendant's statement in such an examination from being admitted into evidence during the trial of the offense.

 

H.B. 727 makes the statutory procedures for capital cases inapplicable if the jury determines that the defendant was a person with severe mental illness at the time of the commission of an alleged capital offense and the defendant is convicted of that offense and requires the judge to sentence the defendant to imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole. If the jury determines that the defendant was not such a person and the defendant is convicted of that offense, the judge is required to conduct a sentencing proceeding in accordance with the capital case procedures. During that proceeding, evidence of a mental disability of the defendant may be presented to the extent permitted by the procedures.

 

H.B. 727 defines "person with severe mental illness" as a person who has schizophrenia, a schizoaffective disorder, or a bipolar disorder and, as a result of that disorder, has active psychotic symptoms that substantially impair the person's capacity to do the following:

·         appreciate the nature, consequences, or wrongfulness of the person's conduct; or

·         exercise rational judgment in relation to the person's conduct.

 

H.B. 727 applies only to a trial that commences on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the alleged offense was committed before, on, or after that date.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2023.