Bill Text: TX HB2979 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain offenses involving injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-08 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB2979 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB2979-Comm_Sub.html

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83R24194 MEW-D
By: Parker H.B. No. 2979
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2979:
By: Herrero C.S.H.B. No. 2979

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain offenses
involving injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled
individual.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The provisions of Section 3 of this article do not
apply:
(1) to a defendant adjudged guilty of an offense
under:
(A) Section 19.02, Penal Code (Murder);
(B) Section 19.03, Penal Code (Capital murder);
(C) Section 21.11(a)(1), Penal Code (Indecency
with a child);
(D) Section 20.04, Penal Code (Aggravated
kidnapping);
(E) Section 22.021, Penal Code (Aggravated
sexual assault);
(F) Section 29.03, Penal Code (Aggravated
robbery);
(G) Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, for
which punishment is increased under:
(i) Section 481.140, Health and Safety
Code; or
(ii) Section 481.134(c), (d), (e), or (f),
Health and Safety Code, if it is shown that the defendant has been
previously convicted of an offense for which punishment was
increased under any of those subsections;
(H) Section 22.011, Penal Code (Sexual assault);
(I) Section 22.04(a)(1) or (2), Penal Code
(Injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual), if
the offense is punishable as a felony of the first degree and the
victim of the offense is a child;
(J) Section 43.25, Penal Code (Sexual
performance by a child);
(K) Section 15.03, Penal Code, if the offense is
punishable as a felony of the first degree;
(L) Section 43.05, Penal Code (Compelling
prostitution); or
(M) Section 20A.02, Penal Code (Trafficking of
persons); or
(2) to a defendant when it is shown that a deadly
weapon as defined in Section 1.07, Penal Code, was used or exhibited
during the commission of a felony offense or during immediate
flight therefrom, and that the defendant used or exhibited the
deadly weapon or was a party to the offense and knew that a deadly
weapon would be used or exhibited. On an affirmative finding under
this subdivision, the trial court shall enter the finding in the
judgment of the court. On an affirmative finding that the deadly
weapon was a firearm, the court shall enter that finding in its
judgment.
SECTION 2. Section 4(d), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(d) A defendant is not eligible for community supervision
under this section if the defendant:
(1) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment that
exceeds 10 years;
(2) is convicted of a state jail felony for which
suspension of the imposition of the sentence occurs automatically
under Section 15(a);
(3) does not file a sworn motion under Subsection (e)
of this section or for whom the jury does not enter in the verdict a
finding that the information contained in the motion is true;
(4) is convicted of an offense for which punishment is
increased under Section 481.134(c), (d), (e), or (f), Health and
Safety Code, if it is shown that the defendant has been previously
convicted of an offense for which punishment was increased under
any one of those subsections;
(5) is convicted of an offense listed in Section
3g(a)(1)(C), (E), or (H), if the victim of the offense was younger
than 14 years of age at the time the offense was committed;
(6) is convicted of an offense listed in Section
3g(a)(1)(D), if the victim of the offense was younger than 14 years
of age at the time the offense was committed and the actor committed
the offense with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually;
(7) is convicted of an offense listed in Section
3g(a)(1)(I) or (J) [3g(a)(1)(J)]; or
(8) is adjudged guilty of an offense under Section
19.02, Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Section 508.145, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) An inmate serving a sentence under Section 22.03,
Penal Code, is not eligible for release on parole until the inmate's
actual calendar time served plus good conduct time equals one-half
of the sentence imposed or 30 years, whichever is less.
SECTION 4. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 22.03 to read as follows:
Sec. 22.03. CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL ABUSE OF CHILD, ELDERLY
INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) In this section:
(1) "Act of physical abuse" means any act that
violates Section 22.02 (aggravated assault) or Section 22.04(a)(1)
or (2) (injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled
individual).
(2) "Child," "elderly individual," and "disabled
individual" have the meanings assigned by Section 22.04(c).
(b) A person commits an offense if:
(1) during a period that is 30 or more days in
duration, the person commits two or more acts of physical abuse,
regardless of whether the acts of physical abuse are committed
against one or more victims; and
(2) at the time of the commission of each of the acts
of physical abuse, the actor is 17 years of age or older and the
victim of the act of physical abuse is a child, elderly individual,
or disabled individual.
(c) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
not required to agree unanimously on which specific acts of
physical abuse were committed by the defendant or the exact date
when those acts were committed. The jury must agree unanimously
that the defendant, during a period that is 30 or more days in
duration, committed two or more acts of physical abuse.
(d) A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal
action of an offense under Section 22.02 or 22.04(a)(1) or (2) the
victim of which is the same victim as a victim of the offense
alleged under Subsection (b) unless the offense under Section 22.02
or 22.04(a)(1) or (2):
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
alleged under Subsection (b) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (b).
(e) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
under Subsection (b) if all of the underlying acts of the alleged
abuse are alleged to have been committed against a single victim.
(f) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree, punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years
or less than 25 years.
SECTION 5. The change in law made 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 section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.