Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB115 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Cook H.B. No. 115
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to applications for a writ of habeas corpus after
9	9	conviction.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Article 1.051(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(d) An eligible indigent defendant is entitled to have the
14	14	trial court appoint an attorney to represent him in the following
15	15	appellate and postconviction habeas corpus matters:
16	16	(1) an appeal to a court of appeals;
17	17	(2) an appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals if the
18	18	appeal is made directly from the trial court or if a petition for
19	19	discretionary review has been granted;
20	20	(3) a habeas corpus proceeding if the court concludes
21	21	that the interests of justice require representation or the
22	22	defendant raises a claim under Article 11.073; and
23	23	(4) any other appellate proceeding if the court
24	24	concludes that the interests of justice require representation.
25	25	SECTION 2. Section 5, Article 11.07, Code of Criminal
26	26	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
27	27	Sec. 5. The Court of Criminal Appeals may deny relief upon
28	28	the findings and conclusions of the hearing judge without docketing
29	29	the cause, or may direct that the cause be docketed and heard as
30	30	though originally presented to said court or as an appeal. Upon
31	31	reviewing the record the court shall enter its judgment remanding
32	32	the applicant to custody or ordering his release, as the law and
33	33	facts may justify. The mandate of the court shall issue to the
34	34	court issuing the writ, as in other criminal cases. After
35	35	conviction the procedure outlined in this Act shall be exclusive
36	36	and any other proceeding shall be void and of no force and effect in
37	37	discharging the prisoner. The court may not deny relief under
38	38	Article 11.073 except by written decision addressing the substance
39	39	of the claim.
40	40	SECTION 3. Section 5, Article 11.071, Code of Criminal
41	41	Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
42	42	(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
43	43	the court of criminal appeals may consider a subsequent application
44	44	that fails to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a) if the
45	45	court finds that justice requires the court to consider the
46	46	application. If the court of criminal appeals makes the finding
47	47	described by this subsection, the convicting court may take further
48	48	action on the application. If the court of criminal appeals does
49	49	not make the finding described by this subsection, the court shall
50	50	issue an order dismissing the application as an abuse of the writ
51	51	under this section.
52	52	SECTION 4. Section 6(b-1), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal
53	53	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
54	54	(b-1) If the convicting court receives notice that the
55	55	requirements of Section 5 [5(a)] for consideration of a subsequent
56	56	application have been met and if the applicant has not elected to
57	57	proceed pro se and is not represented by retained counsel, the
58	58	convicting court shall appoint, in order of priority:
59	59	(1) the attorney who represented the applicant in the
60	60	proceedings under Section 5, if the attorney seeks the appointment;
61	61	(2) the office of capital and forensic writs, if the
62	62	office represented the applicant in the proceedings under Section 5
63	63	or otherwise accepts the appointment; or
64	64	(3) counsel from a list of competent counsel
65	65	maintained by the presiding judges of the administrative judicial
66	66	regions under Section 78.056, Government Code, if the office of
67	67	capital and forensic writs:
68	68	(A) did not represent the applicant as described
69	69	by Subdivision (2); or
70	70	(B) does not accept or is prohibited from
71	71	accepting the appointment under Section 78.054, Government Code.
72	72	SECTION 5. Article 11.073(a)-(c), Code of Criminal
73	73	Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
74	74	(a) This article applies to relevant scientific evidence
75	75	that:
76	76	(1) was not reasonably available to be offered by a
77	77	convicted person at the convicted person's trial; or
78	78	(2) contradicts or tends to negate scientific evidence
79	79	relied on by the state at trial.
80	80	(b) A court may grant a convicted person relief on an
81	81	application for a writ of habeas corpus if:
82	82	(1) the convicted person files an application, in the
83	83	manner provided by Article 11.07, 11.071, or 11.072, containing
84	84	specific facts indicating that:
85	85	(A) relevant scientific evidence is currently
86	86	available and was not available at the time of the convicted
87	87	person's trial because the evidence was not ascertainable through
88	88	the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person before
89	89	the date of or during the convicted person's trial; and
90	90	(B) the scientific evidence would be admissible
91	91	under the Texas Rules of Evidence at a trial held on the date of the
92	92	application; and
93	93	(2) the court makes the findings described by
94	94	Subdivisions (1)(A) and (B) and also finds that, had the scientific
95	95	evidence been presented at trial, [on the preponderance of the
96	96	evidence] there is a reasonable likelihood the scientific evidence
97	97	could have affected the person's conviction or the punishment the
98	98	person received.
99	99	(c) [For purposes of] Section 4(a), Article 11.07, Section
100	100	5(a), Article 11.071, and Section 9(a), Article 11.072, only apply
101	101	to a claim under this article if the claim has been presented
102	102	previously in an application filed by an attorney [a claim or issue
103	103	could not have been presented previously in an original application
104	104	or in a previously considered application if the claim or issue is
105	105	based on relevant scientific evidence that was not ascertainable
106	106	through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted
107	107	person on or before the date on which the original application or a
108	108	previously considered application, as applicable, was filed].
109	109	SECTION 6. Chapter 11, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
110	110	amended by adding Article 11.66 to read as follows:
111	111	Art. 11.66. WRIT TO INVOKE DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION FOR
112	112	PURPOSE OF OBTAINING RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FOR POSTCONVICTION WRIT OF
113	113	HABEAS CORPUS APPLICATION. (a) A person may file a writ under this
114	114	article in a district court for the purpose of invoking the court's
115	115	jurisdiction to obtain documents described by Subsection (b)(2)(B)
116	116	related to filing an application for a writ of habeas corpus under
117	117	this chapter.
118	118	(b) A person may file a petition for a writ under this
119	119	article only if:
120	120	(1) the person is an attorney licensed in this state;
121	121	(2) the person affirms in the petition that:
122	122	(A) the person is seeking to file an application
123	123	for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of an applicant after a final
124	124	conviction; and
125	125	(B) the person cannot in good faith file the
126	126	application until the person obtains documents relevant to a ground
127	127	for relief in the application; and
128	128	(3) the person provides the office of the attorney
129	129	representing the state in the applicant's case with reasonable
130	130	notice of the person's intention to file a petition for a writ under
131	131	this article.
132	132	(c) A district court's jurisdiction under this article is
133	133	limited only to matters relating to:
134	134	(1) a petition for a writ under this article; and
135	135	(2) the issuance of documents requested by the
136	136	petition for a writ under this article.
137	137	SECTION 7. Section 24.011, Government Code, is amended to
138	138	read as follows:
139	139	Sec. 24.011. WRIT POWER. A judge of a district court may,
140	140	either in termtime or vacation, grant a writ [writs] of mandamus,
141	141	injunction, sequestration, attachment, garnishment, certiorari,
142	142	and supersedeas, a writ to issue documents under Article 11.66,
143	143	Code of Criminal Procedure, and any [all] other writ [writs]
144	144	necessary to the enforcement of the court's jurisdiction.
145	145	SECTION 8. The changes in law made by the Act apply only to
146	146	an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the
147	147	effective date of this Act. An application filed before the
148	148	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
149	149	application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
150	150	that purpose.
151	151	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect December 1, 2025.