| 1 | 1 | | 81R10463 YDB-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1993 |
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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 the criminal jurisdiction of the supreme court and the |
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| 8 | 8 | | abolishment of the court of criminal appeals. |
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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. Article 4.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Art. 4.04. SUPREME COURT [OF CRIMINAL APPEALS] |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 1. The Supreme Court [of Criminal Appeals] and each |
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| 14 | 14 | | justice [judge] thereof shall have, and is hereby given, the power |
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| 15 | 15 | | and authority to grant and issue and cause the issuance of writs of |
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| 16 | 16 | | habeas corpus, and, in criminal law matters, the writs of mandamus, |
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| 17 | 17 | | procedendo, prohibition, and certiorari. The court and each |
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| 18 | 18 | | justice [judge] thereof shall have, and is hereby given, the power |
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| 19 | 19 | | and authority to grant and issue and cause the issuance of such |
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| 20 | 20 | | other writs as may be necessary to protect its jurisdiction or |
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| 21 | 21 | | enforce its judgments. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Sec. 2. The Supreme Court [of Criminal Appeals] shall have, |
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| 23 | 23 | | and is hereby given, final appellate and review jurisdiction in |
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| 24 | 24 | | criminal cases coextensive with the limits of the state, and its |
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| 25 | 25 | | determinations shall be final. The appeal of all cases in which the |
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| 26 | 26 | | death penalty has been assessed shall be to the Supreme Court [of |
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| 27 | 27 | | Criminal Appeals]. In addition, the Supreme Court [of Criminal |
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| 28 | 28 | | Appeals] may, on its own motion, with or without a petition for such |
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| 29 | 29 | | discretionary review being filed by one of the parties, review any |
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| 30 | 30 | | decision of a court of appeals in a criminal case. Discretionary |
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| 31 | 31 | | review by the Supreme Court [of Criminal Appeals] is not a matter of |
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| 32 | 32 | | right, but of sound judicial discretion. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. Section 22.001(a), Government Code, is amended |
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| 34 | 34 | | to read as follows: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (a) The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction [, except |
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| 36 | 36 | | in criminal law matters,] coextensive with the limits of the state |
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| 37 | 37 | | and extending to all questions of law arising in the following cases |
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| 38 | 38 | | when they have been brought to the courts of appeals from appealable |
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| 39 | 39 | | judgment of the trial courts: |
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| 40 | 40 | | (1) a case in which the justices of a court of appeals |
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| 41 | 41 | | disagree on a question of law material to the decision; |
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| 42 | 42 | | (2) a case in which one of the courts of appeals holds |
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| 43 | 43 | | differently from a prior decision of another court of appeals or of |
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| 44 | 44 | | the supreme court on a question of law material to a decision of the |
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| 45 | 45 | | case; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (3) a case involving the construction or validity of a |
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| 47 | 47 | | statute necessary to a determination of the case; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (4) a case involving state revenue; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (5) a case in which the railroad commission is a party; |
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| 50 | 50 | | and |
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| 51 | 51 | | (6) any other case in which it appears that an error of |
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| 52 | 52 | | law has been committed by the court of appeals, and that error is of |
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| 53 | 53 | | such importance to the jurisprudence of the state that, in the |
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| 54 | 54 | | opinion of the supreme court, it requires correction, but excluding |
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| 55 | 55 | | those cases in which the jurisdiction of the court of appeals is |
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| 56 | 56 | | made final by statute. |
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| 57 | 57 | | SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 22, Government Code, is |
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| 58 | 58 | | amended by adding Section 22.1011 to read as follows: |
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| 59 | 59 | | Sec. 22.1011. REFERENCE TO COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS. A |
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| 60 | 60 | | reference in state law to the court of criminal appeals means the |
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| 61 | 61 | | supreme court, and a reference to a judge of the court of criminal |
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| 62 | 62 | | appeals means a justice of the supreme court. |
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| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 4. Sections 22.101 and 22.112, Government Code, are |
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| 64 | 64 | | repealed. |
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| 65 | 65 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the |
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| 66 | 66 | | constitutional amendment proposed by the 81st Legislature, Regular |
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| 67 | 67 | | Session, 2009, abolishing the court of criminal appeals and vesting |
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| 68 | 68 | | that court's criminal jurisdiction in the supreme court takes |
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| 69 | 69 | | effect. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act |
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| 70 | 70 | | has no effect. |
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