Bill Text: TX HB1975 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to increasing the criminal penalties for certain repeat sex offenders and to the admissibility of evidence of certain extraneous offenses or acts in the prosecution of certain sexual and assaultive offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-08 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB1975 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB1975-Introduced.html
  88R3859 MCF-D
 
  By: Harless H.B. No. 1975
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to increasing the criminal penalties for certain repeat
  sex offenders and to the admissibility of evidence of certain
  extraneous offenses or acts in the prosecution of certain sexual
  and assaultive offenses.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.42(c), Penal Code, is amended by
  adding Subdivision (2-a) and amending Subdivision (4) to read as
  follows:
               (2-a)  A defendant shall be punished by imprisonment in
  the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life if the defendant
  is convicted in the same trial of more than one offense under
  Section 22.011 or 22.021 or of more than one count of the same
  offense under either of those sections.
               (4)  Notwithstanding Subdivision (1) or (2), and except
  as provided by Subdivision (3) for the trial of an offense under
  Section 22.021 as described by that subdivision, a defendant shall
  be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice for life without parole if it is shown on the trial of the
  applicable offense that:
                     (A)  for an offense under Section 20A.03 or [of] a
  sexually violent offense[,] committed by the defendant on or after
  the defendant's 18th birthday, [that] the defendant has previously
  been finally convicted of:
                           (i) [(A)]  an offense under Section 20A.03
  or [of] a sexually violent offense; or
                           (ii) [(B)]  an offense that was committed
  under the laws of another state and that contains elements that are
  substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section
  20A.03 or [of] a sexually violent offense; or
                     (B)  for an offense under Section 22.011 or
  22.021:
                           (i)  the defendant has previously been
  finally convicted of two offenses under Section 22.011 or 22.021;
  and
                           (ii)  the second previous conviction is for
  an offense that occurred subsequent to the first previous
  conviction having become final.
         SECTION 2.  Section 1, Article 38.37, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1.  (a)  Subsection (b) applies to a proceeding in the
  prosecution of a defendant for an offense, or an attempt or
  conspiracy to commit an offense, under the following provisions of
  the Penal Code:
               (1)  if committed against a person of any [child under
  17 years of] age:
                     (A)  Chapter 21 (Sexual Offenses);
                     (B)  Chapter 22 (Assaultive Offenses); or
                     (C)  Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct);
  or
               (2)  if committed against a person younger than 18
  years of age:
                     (A)  Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
  Child);
                     (B)  Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8); or
                     (C)  Section 43.05(a)(2) (Compelling
  Prostitution).
         (b)  Notwithstanding Rules 404 and 405, Texas Rules of
  Evidence, evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts committed by
  the defendant against the [child who is the] victim of the alleged
  offense shall be admitted for its bearing on relevant matters,
  including:
               (1)  the state of mind of the defendant and the victim
  [child]; and
               (2)  the previous and subsequent relationship between
  the defendant and the victim [child].
         SECTION 3.  (a) Section 12.42, Penal Code, as amended by this
  Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
  date of this Act.  An offense committed before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
  committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
  purpose.  For purposes of this subsection, an offense was committed
  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
  occurred before that date.
         (b)  Section 1, Article 38.37, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  amended by this Act, applies to the admissibility of evidence in a
  criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
  of this Act.  The admissibility of evidence in a criminal proceeding
  that commences before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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