Bill Text: TX SB1270 | 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) 2013-03-13 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1270 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB1270-Introduced.html
  83R8888 JRR-F
 
  By: West S.B. No. 1270
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  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)  
  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.
         (b)  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.
         (c)  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, including evidence that death
  sentences were sought or imposed more frequently as punishment for
  capital offenses against persons of one race than as punishment for
  capital offenses against persons of another race; 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.
         (d)  The evidence under Subsection (c)(2) may include sworn
  testimony of an attorney, prosecutor, law enforcement officer,
  judicial officer, 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.
         (e)  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 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 and may be raised by the
  defendant in any postconviction proceeding. 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.
         (f)  If the court finds that race was a significant factor in
  a decision to seek or impose the sentence of death 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.
         (g)  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.  (a)  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.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Article 53.02(e), Code of Criminal
  Procedure, as added by this Act, prescribing the proceedings at
  which a claim under Article 53.02 may be raised, a person sentenced
  to death before the effective date of this Act who is not otherwise
  eligible to file a motion under this chapter in a postconviction
  proceeding may file a separate motion under Article 53.02, Code of
  Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, but not after the first
  anniversary of the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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