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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to jury instructions regarding a conspiracy in certain |
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criminal cases. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Chapter 36, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended by adding Article 36.145 to read as follows: |
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Art. 36.145. REQUIRED JURY INSTRUCTION ON CRIMINAL |
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CONSPIRACY IN CERTAIN CASES. During the trial of a case in which |
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the defendant is tried as a conspirator under Section 7.02(b), |
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Penal Code, the judge shall include in the court's charge under |
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Article 36.14 the following statement: |
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"A criminal conspiracy is an agreement between two or more |
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persons, with intent that a felony be committed, that they, or one |
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or more of them, engage in conduct that would constitute the |
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offense, and one or more of them perform an overt act in pursuance |
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of the agreement. An agreement constituting a conspiracy may be |
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inferred from acts of the parties." |
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SECTION 2. Article 36.145, Code of Criminal Procedure, as |
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added by this Act, applies only to a trial that begins on or after |
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the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the alleged |
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offense was committed before, on, or after that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |