By: Cortez H.B. No. 322
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain burdens of proof in determining a defendant's
insanity in a criminal case.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Kishana Mitchell
Act.
SECTION 2. Article 46C.153, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) The burden of proof described by Subsection (a)(2)
applies in a defendant's case regardless of any previous acquittal
of the defendant by reason of insanity or another prior judgment of
a court indicating the defendant's lack of sanity.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a trial or case relating to an offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A trial or case relating to an offense
committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.