Texas 2021 - 87th 1st C.S.

Texas House Bill HB29 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S10053 MEW-F
2	2	By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 29
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to policies and standards for providing legal
8	8	representation to indigent defendants in certain capital felony
9	9	cases.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Article 26.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
12	12	amended by adding Subsections (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), (c-4), (c-5),
13	13	and (c-6) and amending Subsections (d) and (m) to read as follows:
14	14	(c-1) The local selection committee shall evaluate and
15	15	determine the list of attorneys qualified under this article to be
16	16	appointed to represent indigent defendants in capital cases in
17	17	which the death penalty is sought and post a list of those attorneys
18	18	on the Internet website of each administrative judicial region.
19	19	(c-2) A statewide capital defense training and standards
20	20	committee is created. Each member of the committee must be a
21	21	licensed attorney and must have significant experience in capital
22	22	defense or indigent criminal defense policy or practice. A member
23	23	of the committee may not be a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer,
24	24	or an employee of the office of capital and forensic writs. The
25	25	committee must be composed of nine members, including:
26	26	(1) two judges jointly selected by the presiding
27	27	judges of the administrative judicial regions;
28	28	(2) a criminal defense attorney appointed by the
29	29	president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association;
30	30	(3) the chief public defender of the Regional Public
31	31	Defender for Capital Cases office, or the chief public defender's
32	32	designee;
33	33	(4) the chief capital defender of a county public
34	34	defender office appointed by the executive director of the Texas
35	35	Indigent Defense Commission;
36	36	(5) a member of the State Bar of Texas committee on
37	37	legal services to the poor in criminal matters selected by the chair
38	38	of the committee; and
39	39	(6) three attorneys appointed by the executive
40	40	director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.
41	41	(c-3) Members of the statewide capital defense training and
42	42	standards committee serve four-year terms and may be reappointed.
43	43	If a vacancy occurs, the appropriate appointing authority shall
44	44	appoint a successor in the same manner as the original appointment
45	45	to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
46	46	(c-4) The members of the statewide capital defense training
47	47	and standards committee shall select a chair from among the
48	48	committee's members.
49	49	(c-5) A member of the statewide capital defense training and
50	50	standards committee may not receive compensation for services on
51	51	the committee but is entitled to be reimbursed for actual and
52	52	necessary expenses incurred in discharging committee duties. The
53	53	expenses are paid from funds appropriated to the Texas Indigent
54	54	Defense Commission.
55	55	(c-6) The Texas Indigent Defense Commission shall provide
56	56	administrative support as necessary to carry out the purposes of
57	57	this article.
58	58	(d)(1) The statewide capital defense training and standards
59	59	committee shall adopt policies and standards for providing legal
60	60	representation [the qualification of attorneys to be appointed] to
61	61	[represent] indigent defendants in capital cases in which the death
62	62	penalty is sought. The policies and standards must include, with
63	63	respect to the qualification of attorneys to be appointed in
64	64	capital cases, the following:
65	65	(A) training requirements and curricula;
66	66	(B) qualification standards;
67	67	(C) continuing legal education requirements; and
68	68	(D) other policies and standards as necessary to
69	69	ensure quality legal representation in capital cases.
70	70	(2) The standards must require that a trial attorney
71	71	appointed as lead counsel to a capital case:
72	72	(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
73	73	(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
74	74	providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
75	75	cases;
76	76	(C) have not been found by the local selection
77	77	committee to have provided deficient legal representation [a
78	78	federal or state court to have rendered ineffective assistance of
79	79	counsel] during the trial or appeal of any capital case if [,
80	80	unless] the local selection committee has determined [determines
81	81	under Subsection (n)] that the conduct underlying the deficient
82	82	representation [finding no longer] accurately reflects the
83	83	attorney's inability [ability] to provide effective representation
84	84	in the future;
85	85	(D) have at least five years of criminal law
86	86	experience;
87	87	(E) have tried to a verdict as lead defense
88	88	counsel a significant number of felony cases, including homicide
89	89	trials and other trials for offenses punishable as second or first
90	90	degree felonies or capital felonies;
91	91	(F) have trial experience in[:
92	92	[(i)] the use of and challenges to mental
93	93	health or forensic expert witnesses[;] and have:
94	94	(i) trial experience in [(ii)]
95	95	investigating and presenting mitigating evidence at the penalty
96	96	phase of a death penalty trial, regardless of whether:
97	97	(a) the case resulted in a judgment or
98	98	dismissal; or
99	99	(b) the state subsequently waived the
100	100	death penalty in the case; or
101	101	(ii) an equivalent amount of trial
102	102	experience, as determined by the local selection committee; and
103	103	(G) have participated in continuing legal
104	104	education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
105	105	death penalty cases.
106	106	(3) The standards must require that an attorney
107	107	appointed as lead appellate counsel in the direct appeal of a
108	108	capital case:
109	109	(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
110	110	(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
111	111	providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
112	112	cases;
113	113	(C) have not been found by the local selection
114	114	committee to have provided deficient legal representation [a
115	115	federal or state court to have rendered ineffective assistance of
116	116	counsel] during the trial or appeal of any capital case if [,
117	117	unless] the local selection committee has determined [determines
118	118	under Subsection (n)] that the conduct underlying the deficient
119	119	representation [finding no longer] accurately reflects the
120	120	attorney's inability [ability] to provide effective representation
121	121	in the future;
122	122	(D) have at least five years of criminal law
123	123	experience;
124	124	(E) have authored a significant number of
125	125	appellate briefs, including appellate briefs for homicide cases and
126	126	other cases involving an offense punishable as a capital felony or a
127	127	felony of the first degree or an offense described by Article
128	128	42A.054(a);
129	129	(F) have trial or appellate experience in[:
130	130	[(i)] the use of and challenges to mental
131	131	health or forensic expert witnesses[;] and have:
132	132	(i) trial or appellate experience in [(ii)]
133	133	the use of mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of a death
134	134	penalty trial, regardless of whether:
135	135	(a) the case resulted in a judgment or
136	136	dismissal; or
137	137	(b) the state subsequently waived the
138	138	death penalty in the case; or
139	139	(ii) an equivalent amount of trial or
140	140	appellate experience, as determined by the local selection
141	141	committee; and
142	142	(G) have participated in continuing legal
143	143	education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
144	144	appealing death penalty cases.
145	145	(4) The Texas Indigent Defense Commission [committee]
146	146	shall prominently post the policies and standards adopted by the
147	147	statewide capital defense training and standards committee under
148	148	Subdivision (1) on the commission's Internet website [in each
149	149	district clerk's office in the region with a list of attorneys
150	150	qualified for appointment].
151	151	(5) Not later than the second anniversary of the date
152	152	an attorney is placed on the list of attorneys qualified for
153	153	appointment in death penalty cases and each year following the
154	154	second anniversary, the attorney must present a list of death
155	155	penalty trial, direct appeal, and habeas corpus cases in which the
156	156	attorney served as counsel and proof to the local selection
157	157	committee that the attorney has successfully completed the
158	158	training, minimum continuing legal education requirements, and
159	159	other standards established by the statewide capital defense
160	160	training and standards committee established under Subsection
161	161	(c-2) [of the State Bar of Texas, including a course or other form
162	162	of training relating to criminal defense in death penalty cases or
163	163	in appealing death penalty cases, as applicable]. The local
164	164	selection committee shall remove the attorney's name from the list
165	165	of qualified attorneys if the attorney fails to provide the local
166	166	selection committee with the materials required under this
167	167	subsection [proof of completion of the continuing legal education
168	168	requirements].
169	169	(m) The local selection committee shall annually review the
170	170	list of attorneys posted under Subsection (c-1) [(d)] to ensure
171	171	that each listed attorney satisfies the requirements under this
172	172	chapter.
173	173	SECTION 2. Article 26.052(n), Code of Criminal Procedure,
174	174	is repealed.
175	175	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
176	176	to a capital felony case that is filed on or after the effective
177	177	date of this Act. A capital felony case that is filed before the
178	178	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
179	179	date the case was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
180	180	for that purpose.
181	181	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect December 1, 2021.