88R11979 AJZ-D
By: Moody H.B. No. 205
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an application for a writ of habeas corpus based on
certain relevant scientific evidence that was not available at the
applicant's trial.
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 11.073, 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 3. This Act takes effect December 1, 2023.