| 1 | 1 | | By: Gutierrez S.B. No. 1739 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the punishment for certain conduct constituting the |
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| 7 | 7 | | offense of murder and providing for the prosecution of that conduct |
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| 8 | 8 | | as capital murder; increasing a criminal penalty. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 19.03(a), Penal Code, is amended to read |
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| 11 | 11 | | as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder |
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| 13 | 13 | | as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who |
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| 15 | 15 | | is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the |
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| 16 | 16 | | person knows is a peace officer or fireman; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the |
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| 18 | 18 | | course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, |
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| 19 | 19 | | robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or |
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| 20 | 20 | | retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3), |
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| 21 | 21 | | (4), (5), or (6); |
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| 22 | 22 | | (3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or |
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| 23 | 23 | | the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder |
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| 24 | 24 | | for remuneration or the promise of remuneration; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (4) the person commits the murder while escaping or |
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| 26 | 26 | | attempting to escape from a penal institution; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal |
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| 28 | 28 | | institution, murders another: |
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| 29 | 29 | | (A) who is employed in the operation of the penal |
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| 30 | 30 | | institution; or |
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| 31 | 31 | | (B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or |
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| 32 | 32 | | participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (6) the person: |
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| 34 | 34 | | (A) while incarcerated for an offense under this |
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| 35 | 35 | | section or Section 19.02, murders another; or |
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| 36 | 36 | | (B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment |
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| 37 | 37 | | or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or |
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| 38 | 38 | | 29.03, murders another; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (7) the person murders more than one person: |
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| 40 | 40 | | (A) during the same criminal transaction; or |
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| 41 | 41 | | (B) during different criminal transactions but |
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| 42 | 42 | | the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of |
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| 43 | 43 | | conduct; |
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| 44 | 44 | | (8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of |
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| 45 | 45 | | age; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (9) the person murders an individual 10 years of age or |
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| 47 | 47 | | older but younger than 15 years of age; [or] |
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| 48 | 48 | | (10) the person murders another person in retaliation |
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| 49 | 49 | | for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a |
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| 50 | 50 | | judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal |
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| 51 | 51 | | appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district |
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| 52 | 52 | | court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a |
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| 53 | 53 | | justice court, or a municipal court; or |
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| 54 | 54 | | (11) the person murders a student or educational |
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| 55 | 55 | | employee in an educational facility. |
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| 56 | 56 | | SECTION 2. Section 12.31, Penal Code, is amended to read as |
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| 57 | 57 | | follows: |
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| 58 | 58 | | Sec. 12.31. CAPITAL FELONY. (a) An individual adjudged |
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| 59 | 59 | | guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state seeks the |
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| 60 | 60 | | death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas |
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| 61 | 61 | | Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole or by death. |
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| 62 | 62 | | An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which |
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| 63 | 63 | | the state does not seek the death penalty shall be punished by |
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| 64 | 64 | | imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for: |
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| 65 | 65 | | (1) life, if the individual committed the offense when |
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| 66 | 66 | | younger than 18 years of age; [or] |
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| 67 | 67 | | (2) life without parole, if the individual committed |
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| 68 | 68 | | the offense when 18 years of age or older[.]; or |
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| 69 | 69 | | (3) life without parole, if the individual committed |
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| 70 | 70 | | the offense against a student or educational employee at an |
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| 71 | 71 | | educational facility. |
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| 72 | 72 | | (b) In a capital felony trial in which the state seeks the |
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| 73 | 73 | | death penalty, prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence |
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| 74 | 74 | | of life imprisonment without parole or death is mandatory on |
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| 75 | 75 | | conviction of a capital felony. In a capital felony trial in which |
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| 76 | 76 | | the state does not seek the death penalty, prospective jurors shall |
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| 77 | 77 | | be informed that the state is not seeking the death penalty and |
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| 78 | 78 | | that: |
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| 79 | 79 | | (1) a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on |
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| 80 | 80 | | conviction of the capital felony, if the individual committed the |
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| 81 | 81 | | offense when younger than 18 years of age; or |
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| 82 | 82 | | (2) a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is |
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| 83 | 83 | | mandatory on conviction of the capital felony, if the individual |
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| 84 | 84 | | committed the offense when 18 years of age or older. |
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| 85 | 85 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 86 | 86 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this |
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| 87 | 87 | | Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 88 | 88 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 89 | 89 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 90 | 90 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 91 | 91 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 92 | 92 | | before that date. |
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| 93 | 93 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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