By: Whitmire, Hinojosa S.B. No. 1976
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures for applications for writs of habeas corpus
based on relevant evidence discrediting scientific evidence
presented at trial.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 4, Article 11.07, Code
of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a subsequent application for writ of habeas corpus is
filed after final disposition of an initial application challenging
the same conviction, a court may not consider the merits of or grant
relief based on the subsequent application unless the application
contains sufficient specific facts establishing that:
(1) the current claims and issues, including a claim
that scientific evidence presented at trial has been discredited,
have not been and could not have been presented previously in an
original application or in a previously considered application
filed under this article because the factual or legal basis for the
claim was unavailable on the date the applicant filed the previous
application; or
(2) by a preponderance of the evidence, but for a
violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror could
have found the applicant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 5, Article 11.071, Code
of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus
is filed after filing an initial application, a court may not
consider the merits of or grant relief based on the subsequent
application unless the application contains sufficient specific
facts establishing that:
(1) the current claims and issues, including a claim
that scientific evidence presented at trial has been discredited,
have not been and could not have been presented previously in a
timely initial application or in a previously considered
application filed under this article or Article 11.07 because the
factual or legal basis for the claim was unavailable on the date the
applicant filed the previous application;
(2) by a preponderance of the evidence, but for a
violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror could
have found the applicant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; or
(3) by clear and convincing evidence, but for a
violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror would
have answered in the state's favor one or more of the special issues
that were submitted to the jury in the applicant's trial under
Article 37.071, 37.0711, or 37.072.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application for a writ of habeas
corpus filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect at the time the application was filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.