89R3934 MEW-D
 
  By: Bucy H.B. No. 454
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to abolishing the death penalty.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 12.31, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
       Sec. 12.31.  CAPITAL FELONY. (a) An individual adjudged
guilty of a capital felony [in a case in which the state seeks the
death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole or by death.
An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which
the state does not seek the death penalty] shall be punished by
imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for:
             (1)  life, if the individual committed the offense when
younger than 18 years of age; or
             (2)  life without parole, if the individual committed
the offense when 18 years of age or older.
       (b)  In a capital felony trial [in which the state seeks the
death penalty, prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence
of life imprisonment without parole or death is mandatory on
conviction of a capital felony. In a capital felony trial in which
the state does not seek the death penalty], prospective jurors
shall be informed [that the state is not seeking the death penalty
and] that:
             (1)  a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on
conviction of the capital felony, if the individual committed the
offense when younger than 18 years of age; or
             (2)  a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is
mandatory on conviction of the capital felony, if the individual
committed the offense when 18 years of age or older.
       SECTION 2.  Articles 1.13(a) and (b), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  Subject to Subsection (b), the [The] defendant in a
criminal prosecution for any offense is entitled [other than a
capital felony case in which the state notifies the court and the
defendant that it will seek the death penalty shall have the right],
upon entering a plea, to waive the right of trial by jury,
conditioned, however, that, except as provided by Article 27.19,
the waiver must be made in person by the defendant in writing in
open court with the consent and approval of the court, and the
attorney representing the state. The consent and approval by the
court shall be entered of record on the minutes of the court, and
the consent and approval of the attorney representing the state
shall be in writing, signed by that attorney, and filed in the
papers of the cause before the defendant enters the defendant's
plea.
       (b)  In a capital felony case [in which the attorney
representing the State notifies the court and the defendant that it
will not seek the death penalty], the defendant may waive the right
to trial by jury but only if the attorney representing the state
[State], in writing and in open court, consents to the waiver.
       SECTION 3.  Articles 26.04(b) and (g), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
       (b)  Procedures adopted under Subsection (a) shall:
             (1)  authorize only the judges of the county courts,
statutory county courts, and district courts trying criminal cases
in the county, or the judges' designee, to appoint counsel for
indigent defendants in the county;
             (2)  apply to each appointment of counsel made by a
judge or the judges' designee in the county;
             (3)  ensure that each indigent defendant in the county
who is charged with a misdemeanor punishable by confinement or with
a felony and who appears in court without counsel has an opportunity
to confer with appointed counsel before the commencement of
judicial proceedings;
             (4)  [require appointments for defendants in capital
cases in which the death penalty is sought to comply with any
applicable requirements under Articles 11.071 and 26.052;
             [(5)] ensure that each attorney appointed from a public
appointment list to represent an indigent defendant perform the
attorney's duty owed to the defendant in accordance with the
adopted procedures, the requirements of this code, and applicable
rules of ethics; and
             (5) [(6)]  ensure that appointments are allocated
among qualified attorneys in a manner that is fair, neutral, and
nondiscriminatory.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Penal Code 12.31, Government Code 557.012 (Government Code 557, Penal Code 12)