Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3938 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R5863 MAW-D
2	2	By: Moody H.B. No. 3938
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the consideration of the views of a close relative of a
8	8	deceased victim regarding the imposition of the death penalty in a
9	9	capital case.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 2(a)(1), Article 37.071, Code of
12	12	Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
13	13	(1) If a defendant is tried for a capital offense in
14	14	which the state seeks the death penalty, on a finding that the
15	15	defendant is guilty of a capital offense, the court shall conduct a
16	16	separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant
17	17	shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole.
18	18	The proceeding shall be conducted in the trial court and, except as
19	19	provided by Article 44.29(c) [of this code], before the trial jury
20	20	as soon as practicable. In the proceeding, evidence may be
21	21	presented by the state and the defendant or the defendant's counsel
22	22	as to any matter that the court considers [deems] relevant to
23	23	sentence, including evidence of the defendant's background or
24	24	character or the circumstances of the offense that mitigates
25	25	against the imposition of the death penalty and evidence of the
26	26	views of a close relative of a deceased victim, as defined by
27	27	Article 56.01, regarding the imposition of the death penalty in the
28	28	case. This subdivision does [shall] not [be construed to] authorize
29	29	the introduction of any evidence secured in violation of the
30	30	Constitution of the United States or of the State of Texas. The
31	31	state and the defendant or the defendant's counsel shall be
32	32	permitted to present argument for or against sentence of death. The
33	33	introduction of evidence of extraneous conduct is governed by the
34	34	notice requirements of Section 3(g), Article 37.07. The court, the
35	35	attorney representing the state, the defendant, or the defendant's
36	36	counsel may not inform a juror or a prospective juror of the effect
37	37	of a failure of a jury to agree on issues submitted under Subsection
38	38	(c) or (e).
39	39	SECTION 2. Section 2(d), Article 37.071, Code of Criminal
40	40	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
41	41	(d) The court shall charge the jury that:
42	42	(1) in deliberating on the issues submitted under
43	43	Subsection (b) [of this article], it shall consider all evidence
44	44	admitted at the guilt or innocence stage and the punishment stage,
45	45	including evidence of the defendant's background or character or
46	46	the circumstances of the offense that militates for or mitigates
47	47	against the imposition of the death penalty and evidence of the
48	48	views of a close relative of a deceased victim, as defined by
49	49	Article 56.01, regarding the imposition of the death penalty in the
50	50	case;
51	51	(2) it may not answer any issue submitted under
52	52	Subsection (b) of this article "yes" unless it agrees unanimously
53	53	and it may not answer any issue "no" unless 10 or more jurors agree;
54	54	and
55	55	(3) members of the jury need not agree on what
56	56	particular evidence supports a negative answer to any issue
57	57	submitted under Subsection (b) [of this article].
58	58	SECTION 3. Section 2(e)(1), Article 37.071, Code of
59	59	Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
60	60	(1) The court shall instruct the jury that if the jury
61	61	returns an affirmative finding to each issue submitted under
62	62	Subsection (b), it shall answer the following issue:
63	63	Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence,
64	64	including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's
65	65	character and background, [and] the personal moral culpability of
66	66	the defendant, and the views of a close relative of a deceased
67	67	victim, as defined by Article 56.01, regarding the imposition of
68	68	the death penalty in the case, there is a sufficient mitigating
69	69	circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life
70	70	imprisonment without parole rather than a death sentence be
71	71	imposed.
72	72	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
73	73	to a criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective
74	74	date of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commenced before the
75	75	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
76	76	date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in
77	77	effect for that purpose.
78	78	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.