Bill Text: TX HB2458 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to prohibiting seeking or imposing the death penalty on the basis of a person's race.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-16 - Left pending in committee [HB2458 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HB2458-Introduced.html
83R8933 JRR-D | ||
By: Thompson of Brazoria | H.B. No. 2458 |
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relating to prohibiting seeking or imposing the death penalty on | ||
the basis of a person's race. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended | ||
by adding Chapter 53 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 53. PROCEDURE IN CERTAIN DEATH PENALTY CASES | ||
Art. 53.01. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. No person | ||
shall be subject to or given a sentence of death or executed under | ||
any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race. | ||
Art. 53.02. PROOF OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION; PROCEDURE. (a) | ||
To be eligible to file a motion under this chapter, the defendant | ||
must knowingly and voluntarily waive any objection to the | ||
imposition of a sentence to life imprisonment without parole based | ||
on any common law, statutory law, or provision of the federal or | ||
state constitution that would otherwise require that the defendant | ||
be eligible for parole. The waiver must be in writing, signed by | ||
the defendant, and included in the motion seeking relief under this | ||
article. | ||
(b) If the court determines that a hearing is required under | ||
Subsection (h), the court shall make an oral inquiry of the | ||
defendant on the record to confirm the defendant's waiver to the | ||
imposition of a sentence to life imprisonment without parole. If | ||
the court grants relief under this article, the judgment must | ||
include the finding that the defendant waived any objection to the | ||
imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. | ||
(c) The defendant has the burden of proving by a | ||
preponderance of the evidence that race was a significant factor in | ||
the decision to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county | ||
at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed. For the | ||
purposes of this article, "the time the death sentence was sought or | ||
imposed" is the period from 10 years before the date of the | ||
commission of the offense to the date that is two years after the | ||
date the death sentence is imposed. | ||
(d) The state may offer evidence in rebuttal of the | ||
defendant's claims or evidence, including statistical evidence. | ||
The court may consider evidence of the impact on the defendant's | ||
trial of any program the purpose of which is to eliminate race as a | ||
factor in seeking or imposing a sentence of death. | ||
(e) Evidence to establish a finding that race was a | ||
significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the sentence of | ||
death in the county at the time the death sentence was sought or | ||
imposed may include: | ||
(1) statistical evidence derived from the county where | ||
the defendant was sentenced to death; or | ||
(2) other evidence specific to the defendant's case | ||
showing that the race of the defendant was a significant factor in | ||
the decision to seek or impose the sentence of death, including | ||
evidence showing that race was a significant factor in the decision | ||
to exercise peremptory challenges during jury selection. | ||
(f) The evidence under Subsection (e)(2) may include sworn | ||
testimony of an attorney, prosecutor, law enforcement officer, | ||
judicial official, juror, or other person involved in the criminal | ||
justice system. Testimony by a juror under this subsection must | ||
comply with Rule 606(b), Texas Rules of Evidence. | ||
(g) Statistical evidence alone is not sufficient to | ||
establish that race was a significant factor in the decision to seek | ||
or impose the sentence of death. | ||
(h) A motion filed under this article must state with | ||
particularity how the evidence supports a claim that race was a | ||
significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the sentence of | ||
death in the defendant's case in the county at the time the death | ||
sentence was sought or imposed. The claim must be raised by the | ||
defendant at the pretrial conference or hearing under Article 28.01 | ||
or in any postconviction proceeding. If the court finds that the | ||
defendant's motion fails to state a sufficient claim under this | ||
article, the court shall dismiss the claim without an evidentiary | ||
hearing. If the court finds that the defendant's motion states a | ||
sufficient claim under this article, the court shall set a hearing | ||
on the claim and may prescribe a time before the hearing for each | ||
party to present a summary of the evidence the party intends to | ||
introduce. | ||
(i) If the court finds that race was a significant factor in | ||
a decision to seek or impose the sentence of death in the | ||
defendant's case at the time the death sentence was sought or | ||
imposed, the court shall order that a death sentence not be sought, | ||
or that the death sentence imposed by the judgment be vacated and | ||
the defendant resentenced to life imprisonment without the | ||
possibility of parole. | ||
(j) Filing a motion under this article does not limit or | ||
restrict the defendant's eligibility for any other postconviction | ||
procedure authorized by this code, including another action under | ||
this chapter. The provisions of Article 28.01 prohibiting further | ||
adjudication of certain matters not raised at a pretrial hearing do | ||
not apply to matters related to a defendant's motion under this | ||
article. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 53, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added | ||
by this Act, applies to a defendant alleged to have committed a | ||
capital offense regardless of whether the alleged offense was | ||
committed before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |