Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2973 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R10735 KEL-F
2	2	By: Coleman, Farrar, Miklos, Moody H.B. No. 2973
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2973:
4	4	By: Gallego C.S.H.B. No. 2973
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the insanity defense in a criminal case.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 8.01(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
12	12	as follows:
13	13	(a) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the
14	14	time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the
15	15	defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was
16	16	unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of
17	17	his or her acts. [conduct charged, the actor, as a result of severe
18	18	mental disease or defect, did not know that his conduct was wrong.]
19	19	SECTION 2. Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
20	20	amended by adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
21	21	SUBCHAPTER G. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO PERSONS ACQUITTED BY REASON
22	22	OF INSANITY UNDER THIS CHAPTER OR PRIOR LAW
23	23	Art. 46C.301. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
24	24	applies to a person acquitted by reason of insanity under this
25	25	chapter or under former Article 46.03, as that article existed
26	26	before September 1, 2005.
27	27	SECTION 3. Articles 46C.002, 46C.268, and 46C.269, Code of
28	28	Criminal Procedure, are transferred to Subchapter G, Chapter 46C,
29	29	Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, renumbered as
30	30	Articles 46C.302, 46C.303, and 46C.304, respectively, and amended
31	31	to read as follows:
32	32	Art. 46C.302 [46C.002]. MAXIMUM PERIOD OF COMMITMENT
33	33	DETERMINED BY MAXIMUM TERM FOR OFFENSE. (a) A person acquitted by
34	34	reason of insanity may not be committed to a mental hospital or
35	35	other inpatient or residential care facility or ordered to receive
36	36	outpatient or community-based treatment and supervision under
37	37	Subchapter F or under former Article 46.03, as applicable, for a
38	38	cumulative period that exceeds the maximum term provided by law for
39	39	the offense for which the acquitted person was tried.
40	40	(b) On expiration of that maximum term, the acquitted person
41	41	may be further confined in a mental hospital or other inpatient or
42	42	residential care facility or ordered to receive outpatient or
43	43	community-based treatment and supervision only under civil
44	44	commitment proceedings.
45	45	Art. 46C.303 [46C.268]. ADVANCE DISCHARGE OF ACQUITTED
46	46	PERSON AND TERMINATION OF JURISDICTION. (a) A [An acquitted]
47	47	person acquitted by reason of insanity, the head of the facility to
48	48	which the acquitted person is committed, the person responsible for
49	49	providing the outpatient or community-based treatment and
50	50	supervision, or the state may request that the court discharge an
51	51	acquitted person from inpatient commitment or outpatient or
52	52	community-based treatment and supervision.
53	53	(b) Not later than the 14th day after the date of the
54	54	request, the court shall hold a hearing on a request made by the
55	55	head of the facility to which the acquitted person is committed or
56	56	the person responsible for providing the outpatient or
57	57	community-based treatment and supervision.
58	58	(c) If a request is made by an acquitted person, the court
59	59	must act on the request not later than the 14th day after the date of
60	60	the request. A hearing under this subsection is at the discretion
61	61	of the court, except that the court shall hold a hearing if the
62	62	request and any accompanying material indicate that modification of
63	63	the order may be appropriate.
64	64	(d) If a request is made by an acquitted person not later
65	65	than the 90th day after the date of a hearing on a previous request,
66	66	the court is not required to act on the request except on the
67	67	expiration of the order or on the expiration of the 90-day period
68	68	following the date of the hearing on the previous request.
69	69	(e) The court shall rule on the request during or shortly
70	70	after any hearing that is held and in any case not later than the
71	71	14th day after the date of the request.
72	72	(f) The court shall discharge the acquitted person from all
73	73	court-ordered commitment and treatment and supervision and
74	74	terminate the court's jurisdiction over the person if the court
75	75	finds that the acquitted person has established by a preponderance
76	76	of the evidence that:
77	77	(1) the acquitted person does not have a severe mental
78	78	illness or mental retardation; or
79	79	(2) the acquitted person is not likely to cause
80	80	serious harm to another because of any severe mental illness or
81	81	mental retardation.
82	82	Art. 46C.304 [46C.269]. TERMINATION OF COURT'S
83	83	JURISDICTION. (a) The jurisdiction of the court over a person
84	84	acquitted by reason of insanity [covered by this subchapter]
85	85	automatically terminates on the date when the cumulative total
86	86	period of institutionalization and outpatient or community-based
87	87	treatment and supervision imposed under Subchapter F or under
88	88	former Article 46.03, as applicable, [this subchapter] equals the
89	89	maximum term of imprisonment provided by law for the offense of
90	90	which the person was acquitted [by reason of insanity].
91	91	(b) On the termination of the court's jurisdiction under
92	92	this article, the acquitted person must be discharged from any
93	93	inpatient treatment or residential care or outpatient or
94	94	community-based treatment and supervision ordered under Subchapter
95	95	F or under former Article 46.03, as applicable [this subchapter].
96	96	(c) The [An] inpatient or residential care facility to which
97	97	the acquitted [a] person has been committed [under this subchapter]
98	98	or the [a] person responsible for administering a regimen of
99	99	outpatient or community-based treatment and supervision [under
100	100	this subchapter] must notify the court not later than the 30th day
101	101	before the court's jurisdiction over the acquitted person ends
102	102	under this article.
103	103	(d) This article [subchapter] does not affect whether a
104	104	person may be ordered to receive care or treatment under Subtitle C
105	105	or D, Title 7, Health and Safety Code.
106	106	SECTION 4. Article 46C.154, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
107	107	amended to read as follows:
108	108	Art. 46C.154. INFORMING JURY REGARDING CONSEQUENCES OF
109	109	ACQUITTAL. The court[, the attorney representing the state, or the
110	110	attorney for the defendant may not inform a juror or a prospective
111	111	juror of] shall provide instruction to the jury in order to inform
112	112	the jury of the consequences to the defendant if a verdict of not
113	113	guilty by reason of insanity is returned[.], in substantially the
114	114	form as follows:
115	115	" Under the law applicable in this case, if you find the
116	116	defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, you will be discharged
117	117	and the court will determine the disposition of the defendant.
118	118	"If the court finds that the offense of which the defendant
119	119	was acquitted involved conduct that caused serious bodily injury to
120	120	another person, placed another person in imminent danger of serious
121	121	bodily injury, or consisted of a threat of serious bodily injury to
122	122	another person through the use of a deadly weapon, the court must
123	123	commit the defendant to a maximum-security inpatient facility for a
124	124	mental health evaluation for a period not to exceed 30 days. Based
125	125	upon that evaluation, the defendant may receive continuing mental
126	126	health supervision or treatment for a period not to exceed the
127	127	maximum term of confinement for the offense of which the person was
128	128	acquitted, to be reviewed at least annually by the court, or upon
129	129	request of the defendant, the state, the head of a facility to which
130	130	the defendant is committed, or the person responsible for providing
131	131	outpatient or community-based treatment and supervision. If the
132	132	defendant has not been discharged by the court from mental health
133	133	supervision or treatment before the expiration of that maximum
134	134	term, upon the expiration of that maximum term the defendant must be
135	135	discharged from the criminal jurisdiction of this court. The
136	136	defendant may be further confined or treated after that time only
137	137	under civil commitment proceedings outside the criminal
138	138	jurisdiction of this court.
139	139	"If the court finds that the offense of which the defendant
140	140	was acquitted did not involve the dangerous conduct specified
141	141	above, then the court must determine whether the defendant is a
142	142	person with mental illness or mental retardation. If the court
143	143	finds that the defendant is a person with mental illness or mental
144	144	retardation, then the court must transfer the defendant for civil
145	145	mental health commitment proceedings outside the criminal
146	146	jurisdiction of this court. If the court does not find the defendant
147	147	to be a person with mental illness or mental retardation, then the
148	148	defendant must be discharged.
149	149	"It cannot accurately be predicted how the criminal and civil
150	150	commitment laws might be applied if the defendant is found not
151	151	guilty by reason of insanity because the application of these laws
152	152	will depend upon decisions made by the courts and mental health
153	153	authorities regarding the defendant's mental health needs.
154	154	Therefore, you may consider the existence of the criminal and civil
155	155	commitment laws described herein, but you are not to consider the
156	156	extent to which those laws may be applied to this defendant in
157	157	reaching your verdict."
158	158	SECTION 5. Article 46C.158, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
159	159	amended to read as follows:
160	160	Art. 46C.158. CONTINUING JURISDICTION OF DANGEROUS
161	161	ACQUITTED PERSON. If the court finds that the offense of which the
162	162	person was acquitted involved conduct that caused serious bodily
163	163	injury to another person, placed another person in imminent danger
164	164	of serious bodily injury, or consisted of a threat of serious bodily
165	165	injury to another person through the use of a deadly weapon, the
166	166	court retains jurisdiction over the acquitted person until either:
167	167	(1) the court discharges the person and terminates its
168	168	jurisdiction under Article 46C.303 [46C.268]; or
169	169	(2) the cumulative total period of
170	170	institutionalization and outpatient or community-based treatment
171	171	and supervision under the court's jurisdiction equals the maximum
172	172	term provided by law for the offense of which the person was
173	173	acquitted by reason of insanity and the court's jurisdiction is
174	174	automatically terminated under Article 46C.304 [46C.269].
175	175	SECTION 6. Article 46C.255(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
176	176	is amended to read as follows:
177	177	(a) The following proceedings under this chapter must be
178	178	before the court, and the underlying matter determined by the
179	179	court, unless the acquitted person or the state requests a jury
180	180	trial or the court on its own motion sets the matter for jury trial:
181	181	(1) a hearing under Article 46C.253;
182	182	(2) a proceeding for renewal of an order under Article
183	183	46C.261;
184	184	(3) a proceeding on a request for modification or
185	185	revocation of an order under Article 46C.266; and
186	186	(4) a proceeding seeking discharge of an acquitted
187	187	person under Article 46C.303 [46C.268].
188	188	SECTION 7. Article 46C.259, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
189	189	amended to read as follows:
190	190	Art. 46C.259. STATUS OF COMMITTED PERSON. If an acquitted
191	191	person is committed under this subchapter, the person's status as a
192	192	patient or resident is governed by Subtitle C or D, Title 7, Health
193	193	and Safety Code, except that:
194	194	(1) transfer to a nonsecure unit is governed by
195	195	Article 46C.260;
196	196	(2) modification of the order to direct outpatient or
197	197	community-based treatment and supervision is governed by Article
198	198	46C.262; and
199	199	(3) discharge is governed by Article 46C.303
200	200	[46C.268].
201	201	SECTION 8. Article 46C.270(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
202	202	is amended to read as follows:
203	203	(b) Either the acquitted person or the state may appeal
204	204	from:
205	205	(1) an Order of Commitment to Inpatient Treatment or
206	206	Residential Care entered under Article 46C.256;
207	207	(2) an Order to Receive Outpatient or Community-Based
208	208	Treatment and Supervision entered under Article 46C.257 or 46C.262;
209	209	(3) an order renewing or refusing to renew an Order for
210	210	Inpatient Commitment or Outpatient or Community-Based Treatment
211	211	and Supervision entered under Article 46C.261;
212	212	(4) an order modifying or revoking an Order for
213	213	Outpatient or Community-Based Treatment and Supervision entered
214	214	under Article 46C.266 or refusing a request to modify or revoke that
215	215	order; or
216	216	(5) an order discharging an acquitted person under
217	217	Article 46C.303 [46C.268] or denying a request for discharge of an
218	218	acquitted person.
219	219	SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
220	220	section, the change in law made by this Act applies to a defendant
221	221	acquitted of an offense committed before, on, or after the
222	222	effective date of this Act.
223	223	(b) The change in law made by this Act in amending Section
224	224	8.01(a), Penal Code, and Article 46C.154, Code of Criminal
225	225	Procedure, applies only to a defendant acquitted of an offense
226	226	committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A defendant
227	227	acquitted of an offense committed before the effective date of this
228	228	Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
229	229	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
230	230	purposes of this subsection, an offense was committed before the
231	231	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
232	232	committed before that date.
233	233	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.