Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB679 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Gervin-Hawkins, Moody, Crockett H.B. No. 679
	1	+	87R3537 MEW-F
	2	+	By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 679
2	3
3	4
4	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	6		AN ACT
6		-	relating to policies and standards for providing legal
7		-	representation to indigent defendants in certain capital felony
8		-	cases.
	7	+	relating to the standards for attorneys representing indigent
	8	+	defendants in certain capital felony cases.
9	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10		-	SECTION 1. Article 26.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11		-	amended by adding Subsections (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), (c-4), (c-5),
12		-	and (c-6) and amending Subsections (d) and (m) to read as follows:
13		-	(c-1) The local selection committee shall evaluate and
14		-	determine the list of attorneys qualified under this article to be
15		-	appointed to represent indigent defendants in capital cases in
16		-	which the death penalty is sought and post a list of those attorneys
17		-	on the Internet website of each administrative judicial region.
18		-	(c-2) A statewide capital defense training and standards
19		-	committee is created. Each member of the committee must be a
20		-	licensed attorney and must have significant experience in capital
21		-	defense or indigent criminal defense policy or practice. A member
22		-	of the committee may not be a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer,
23		-	or an employee of the office of capital and forensic writs. The
24		-	committee must be composed of nine members, including:
25		-	(1) two judges jointly selected by the presiding
26		-	judges of the administrative judicial regions;
27		-	(2) a criminal defense attorney appointed by the
28		-	president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association;
29		-	(3) the chief public defender of the Regional Public
30		-	Defender for Capital Cases office, or the chief public defender's
31		-	designee;
32		-	(4) the chief capital defender of a county public
33		-	defender office appointed by the executive director of the Texas
34		-	Indigent Defense Commission;
35		-	(5) a member of the State Bar of Texas committee on
36		-	legal services to the poor in criminal matters selected by the chair
37		-	of the committee; and
38		-	(6) three attorneys appointed by the executive
39		-	director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.
40		-	(c-3) Members of the statewide capital defense training and
41		-	standards committee serve four-year terms and may be reappointed.
42		-	If a vacancy occurs, the appropriate appointing authority shall
43		-	appoint a successor in the same manner as the original appointment
44		-	to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
45		-	(c-4) The members of the statewide capital defense training
46		-	and standards committee shall select a chair from among the
47		-	committee's members.
48		-	(c-5) A member of the statewide capital defense training and
49		-	standards committee may not receive compensation for services on
50		-	the committee but is entitled to be reimbursed for actual and
51		-	necessary expenses incurred in discharging committee duties. The
52		-	expenses are paid from funds appropriated to the Texas Indigent
53		-	Defense Commission.
54		-	(c-6) The Texas Indigent Defense Commission shall provide
55		-	administrative support as necessary to carry out the purposes of
56		-	this article.
57		-	(d)(1) The statewide capital defense training and standards
58		-	committee shall adopt policies and standards for providing legal
59		-	representation [the qualification of attorneys to be appointed] to
60		-	[represent] indigent defendants in capital cases in which the death
61		-	penalty is sought. The policies and standards must include, with
62		-	respect to the qualification of attorneys to be appointed in
63		-	capital cases, the following:
64		-	(A) training requirements and curricula;
65		-	(B) qualification standards;
66		-	(C) continuing legal education requirements; and
67		-	(D) other policies and standards as necessary to
68		-	ensure quality legal representation in capital cases.
	10	+	SECTION 1. Articles 26.052(d)(2) and (3), Code of Criminal
	11	+	Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
69	12		(2) The standards must require that a trial attorney
70	13		appointed as lead counsel to a capital case:
71	14		(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
72	15		(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
73	16		providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
74	17		cases;
75		-	(C) have not been found by the local selection
76		-	committee to have provided deficient legal representation [a
77		-	federal or state court to have rendered ineffective assistance of
78		-	counsel] during the trial or appeal of any capital case if [,
79		-	unless] the local selection committee has determined [determines
80		-	under Subsection (n)] that the conduct underlying the deficient
81		-	representation [finding no longer] accurately reflects the
82		-	attorney's inability [ability] to provide effective representation
83		-	in the future;
	18	+	(C) have not been found by a federal or state
	19	+	court to have rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the
	20	+	trial or appeal of any capital case, unless the local selection
	21	+	committee determines under Subsection (n) that the conduct
	22	+	underlying the finding no longer accurately reflects the attorney's
	23	+	ability to provide effective representation;
84	24		(D) have at least five years of criminal law
85	25		experience;
86	26		(E) have tried to a verdict as lead defense
87	27		counsel a significant number of felony cases, including homicide
88	28		trials and other trials for offenses punishable as second or first
89	29		degree felonies or capital felonies;
90	30		(F) have trial experience in[:
91	31		[(i)] the use of and challenges to mental
92	32		health or forensic expert witnesses[;] and have:
93	33		(i) trial experience in [(ii)]
94	34		investigating and presenting mitigating evidence at the penalty
95	35		phase of a death penalty trial, regardless of whether:
96	36		(a) the case resulted in a judgment or
97	37		dismissal; or
98	38		(b) the state subsequently waived the
99	39		death penalty in the case; or
100	40		(ii) an equivalent amount of trial
101	41		experience, as determined by the local selection committee; and
102	42		(G) have participated in continuing legal
103	43		education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
104	44		death penalty cases.
105	45		(3) The standards must require that an attorney
106	46		appointed as lead appellate counsel in the direct appeal of a
107	47		capital case:
108	48		(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
109	49		(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
110	50		providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
111	51		cases;
112		-	(C) have not been found by the local selection
113		-	committee to have provided deficient legal representation [a
114		-	federal or state court to have rendered ineffective assistance of
115		-	counsel] during the trial or appeal of any capital case if [,
116		-	unless] the local selection committee has determined [determines
117		-	under Subsection (n)] that the conduct underlying the deficient
118		-	representation [finding no longer] accurately reflects the
119		-	attorney's inability [ability] to provide effective representation
120		-	in the future;
	52	+	(C) have not been found by a federal or state
	53	+	court to have rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the
	54	+	trial or appeal of any capital case, unless the local selection
	55	+	committee determines under Subsection (n) that the conduct
	56	+	underlying the finding no longer accurately reflects the attorney's
	57	+	ability to provide effective representation;
121	58		(D) have at least five years of criminal law
122	59		experience;
123	60		(E) have authored a significant number of
124	61		appellate briefs, including appellate briefs for homicide cases and
125	62		other cases involving an offense punishable as a capital felony or a
126	63		felony of the first degree or an offense described by Article
127	64		42A.054(a);
128	65		(F) have trial or appellate experience in[:
129	66		[(i)] the use of and challenges to mental
130	67		health or forensic expert witnesses[;] and have:
131	68		(i) trial or appellate experience in [(ii)]
132	69		the use of mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of a death
133	70		penalty trial, regardless of whether:
134	71		(a) the case resulted in a judgment or
135	72		dismissal; or
136	73		(b) the state subsequently waived the
137	74		death penalty in the case; or
138	75		(ii) an equivalent amount of trial or
139	76		appellate experience, as determined by the local selection
140	77		committee; and
141	78		(G) have participated in continuing legal
142	79		education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
143	80		appealing death penalty cases.
144		-	(4) The Texas Indigent Defense Commission [committee]
145		-	shall prominently post the policies and standards adopted by the
146		-	statewide capital defense training and standards committee under
147		-	Subdivision (1) on the commission's Internet website [in each
148		-	district clerk's office in the region with a list of attorneys
149		-	qualified for appointment].
150		-	(5) Not later than the second anniversary of the date
151		-	an attorney is placed on the list of attorneys qualified for
152		-	appointment in death penalty cases and each year following the
153		-	second anniversary, the attorney must present a list of death
154		-	penalty trial, direct appeal, and habeas corpus cases in which the
155		-	attorney served as counsel and proof to the local selection
156		-	committee that the attorney has successfully completed the
157		-	training, minimum continuing legal education requirements, and
158		-	other standards established by the statewide capital defense
159		-	training and standards committee established under Subsection
160		-	(c-2) [of the State Bar of Texas, including a course or other form
161		-	of training relating to criminal defense in death penalty cases or
162		-	in appealing death penalty cases, as applicable]. The local
163		-	selection committee shall remove the attorney's name from the list
164		-	of qualified attorneys if the attorney fails to provide the local
165		-	selection committee with the materials required under this
166		-	subsection [proof of completion of the continuing legal education
167		-	requirements].
168		-	(m) The local selection committee shall annually review the
169		-	list of attorneys posted under Subsection (c-1) [(d)] to ensure
170		-	that each listed attorney satisfies the requirements under this
171		-	chapter.
172		-	SECTION 2. Article 26.052(n), Code of Criminal Procedure,
173		-	is repealed.
174		-	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
	81	+	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
175	82		to a capital felony case that is filed on or after the effective
176	83		date of this Act. A capital felony case that is filed before the
177	84		effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
178	85		date the case was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
179	86		for that purpose.
180		-	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
	87	+	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.