Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1130 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Seliger S.B. No. 1130
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 25, 2009; March 13, 2009,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
4	4	April 6, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
5	5	Nays 0; April 6, 2009, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the standards for attorneys representing indigent
11	11	defendants in capital cases.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Article 26.052, Code of Criminal
14	14	Procedure, as amended by Chapters 787 (S.B. 60) and 965 (H.B. 1701),
15	15	Acts of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, is reenacted
16	16	and amended to read as follows:
17	17	(d)(1) The committee shall adopt standards for the
18	18	qualification of attorneys to be appointed to represent indigent
19	19	defendants in capital cases in which the death penalty is sought.
20	20	(2) The standards must require that a trial attorney
21	21	appointed as lead counsel to a capital case [or an attorney
22	22	appointed as lead appellate counsel in the direct appeal of a
23	23	capital case]:
24	24	(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
25	25	(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
26	26	providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
27	27	cases;
28	28	(C) have not been found by a federal or state
29	29	court to have rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the
30	30	trial or appeal of any capital case;
31	31	(D) have at least five years of criminal law
32	32	experience [in criminal litigation];
33	33	(E) have tried to a verdict as lead defense
34	34	counsel a significant number of felony cases, including homicide
35	35	trials and other trials for offenses punishable as second or first
36	36	degree felonies or capital felonies;
37	37	(F) have trial experience in:
38	38	(i) the use of and challenges to mental
39	39	health or forensic expert witnesses; and
40	40	(ii) investigating and presenting
41	41	mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of a death penalty trial;
42	42	and
43	43	(G) have participated in continuing legal
44	44	education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
45	45	death penalty cases.
46	46	(3) The standards must require that an attorney
47	47	appointed as lead appellate counsel in the direct appeal of a
48	48	capital case:
49	49	(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
50	50	(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
51	51	providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
52	52	cases;
53	53	(C) have not been found by a federal or state
54	54	court to have rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the
55	55	trial or appeal of any capital case;
56	56	(D) have at least five years of criminal law
57	57	experience;
58	58	(E) have authored a significant number of
59	59	appellate briefs, including appellate briefs for homicide cases and
60	60	other cases involving an offense punishable as a capital felony or a
61	61	felony of the first degree or an offense described by Section
62	62	3g(a)(1), Article 42.12;
63	63	(F) have trial or appellate experience in:
64	64	(i) the use of and challenges to mental
65	65	health or forensic expert witnesses; and
66	66	(ii) the use of mitigating evidence at the
67	67	penalty phase of a death penalty trial; and
68	68	(G) have participated in continuing legal
69	69	education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
70	70	appealing death penalty cases.
71	71	(4) The committee shall prominently post the standards
72	72	in each district clerk's office in the region with a list of
73	73	attorneys qualified for appointment.
74	74	(5) [(4)] Not later than the second anniversary of the
75	75	date an attorney is placed on the list of attorneys qualified for
76	76	appointment in death penalty cases and each year following the
77	77	second anniversary, the attorney must present proof to the
78	78	committee that the attorney has successfully completed the minimum
79	79	continuing legal education requirements of the State Bar of Texas,
80	80	including a course or other form of training relating to criminal
81	81	[the] defense in [of] death penalty cases or in appealing death
82	82	penalty cases, as applicable. The committee shall remove the
83	83	attorney's name from the list of qualified attorneys if the
84	84	attorney fails to provide the committee with proof of completion of
85	85	the continuing legal education requirements.
86	86	SECTION 2. A local selection committee shall amend its
87	87	standards as necessary to conform with the requirements of
88	88	Subsection (d), Article 26.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
89	89	amended by this Act, not later than the 75th day after the effective
90	90	date of this Act. An attorney appointed to a death penalty case on
91	91	or after the 75th day after the effective date of this Act must meet
92	92	the standards adopted in conformity with amended Subsection (d),
93	93	Article 26.052, Code of Criminal Procedure. An attorney appointed
94	94	to a death penalty case before the 75th day after the effective date
95	95	of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the attorney was
96	96	appointed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
97	97	purpose.
98	98	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
99	99	* * * * *