83R4478 GCB-F
By: Ellis S.B. No. 721
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the insanity defense in a criminal case.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 8.01(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the
time of the conduct charged, the actor, as a result of severe mental
disease or defect, did not appreciate [know] that the actor's [his]
conduct was either legally or morally wrong.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Section 8.01(a), Penal Code, applies only to a defendant acquitted
of an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
A defendant acquitted of 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.