By: Moody, Guillen H.B. No. 464
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain procedures for and relief that may be granted
pursuant to an application for a writ of habeas corpus.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 11.073(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) A court may grant a convicted person relief on an
application for a writ of habeas corpus if:
(1) the convicted person files an application, in the
manner provided by Article 11.07, 11.071, or 11.072, containing
specific facts indicating that:
(A) relevant scientific evidence is currently
available and was not available at the time of the convicted
person's trial because the evidence was not ascertainable through
the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person before
the date of or during the convicted person's trial; and
(B) the scientific evidence would be admissible
under the Texas Rules of Evidence at a trial held on the date of the
application; and
(2) the court makes the findings described by
Subdivisions (1)(A) and (B) and also finds that, had the scientific
evidence been presented at trial, on the preponderance of the
evidence the person would not have been convicted or would have
received a different punishment.
SECTION 2. Article 11.074, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(b) If at any time the state represents to the convicting
court that an eligible indigent defendant under Article 1.051 has
under a writ of habeas corpus a potentially meritorious claim for
relief from a judgment described by Subsection (a) [who was
sentenced or had a sentence suspended is not guilty, is guilty of
only a lesser offense, or was convicted or sentenced under a law
that has been found unconstitutional by the court of criminal
appeals or the United States Supreme Court], the court shall
appoint an attorney to investigate the claim and represent the
indigent defendant for purposes of filing an application for a writ
of habeas corpus, if an application has not been filed, or to
otherwise represent the indigent defendant in a proceeding based on
the application for the writ.
(b-1) For purposes of Subsection (b), a potentially
meritorious claim is any claim the court determines is likely to
provide relief, including a claim that the defendant:
(1) is or may be actually innocent of the offense;
(2) is or may be guilty of only a lesser offense;
(3) was or may have been convicted or sentenced under a
law that has been found unconstitutional by the court of criminal
appeals or the United States Supreme Court; or
(4) was or may have been convicted or sentenced in
violation of the constitution of this state or the United States.
SECTION 3. Article 11.073, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended 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 filed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect when the application was filed, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Article
11.074, Code of Criminal Procedure, relating to an application
filed for a writ of habeas corpus applies regardless of whether the
offense for which the applicant is in custody was committed before,
on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect December 1, 2019.