| 1 | 1 | | 81R739 KCR-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Dutton H.B. No. 916 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to standards for judicial review of certain writs of |
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| 8 | 8 | | habeas corpus in capital cases. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 5(a), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal |
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| 11 | 11 | | Procedure, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) If a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus |
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| 13 | 13 | | is filed after filing an initial application, a court may not |
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| 14 | 14 | | consider the merits of or grant relief based on the subsequent |
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| 15 | 15 | | application unless the application contains sufficient specific |
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| 16 | 16 | | facts establishing that: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) the current claims and issues have not been and |
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| 18 | 18 | | could not have been presented previously in a timely initial |
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| 19 | 19 | | application or in a previously considered application filed under |
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| 20 | 20 | | this article or Article 11.07 because the factual or legal basis for |
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| 21 | 21 | | the claim was unavailable on the date the applicant filed the |
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| 22 | 22 | | previous application; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) by a preponderance of the evidence, but for a |
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| 24 | 24 | | violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror could |
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| 25 | 25 | | have found the applicant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; or |
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| 26 | 26 | | (3) by a preponderance of the [clear and convincing] |
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| 27 | 27 | | evidence, but for a violation of the United States Constitution no |
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| 28 | 28 | | rational juror would have answered in the state's favor one or more |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the special issues that were submitted to the jury in the |
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| 30 | 30 | | applicant's trial under Article 37.071, 37.0711, or 37.072. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 32 | 32 | | 5(a), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to |
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| 33 | 33 | | an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the |
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| 34 | 34 | | effective date of this Act. An application for a writ of habeas |
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| 35 | 35 | | corpus filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by |
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| 36 | 36 | | the law in effect before the effective date of this Act, and the |
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| 37 | 37 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 39 | 39 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 40 | 40 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 41 | 41 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 42 | 42 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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