By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 839
(In the Senate - Filed February 13, 2009; March 4, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
March 19, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 19, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 839 By: Hinojosa
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by a
juvenile whose case is transferred to criminal court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.31, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 12.31. CAPITAL FELONY. (a) An individual adjudged
guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state seeks the
death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice [institutional division] for life
without parole or by death. An individual adjudged guilty of a
capital felony in a case in which the state does not seek the death
penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice [institutional division] for:
(1) life, if the individual's case was transferred to
the court under Section 54.02, Family Code; or
(2) life without parole.
(b) In a capital felony trial in which the state seeks the
death penalty, prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence
of life imprisonment without parole or death is mandatory on
conviction of a capital felony. In a capital felony trial in which
the state does not seek the death penalty, prospective jurors shall
be informed that the state is not seeking the death penalty and
that:
(1) a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on
conviction of the capital felony, if the case was transferred to the
court under Section 54.02, Family Code; or
(2) a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is
mandatory on conviction of the capital felony.
SECTION 2. Section 508.145, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(b) An inmate serving a life sentence under Section
12.31(a)(1), Penal Code, for a capital felony is not eligible for
release on parole until the actual calendar time the inmate has
served, without consideration of good conduct time, equals 40
calendar years.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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