89R3934 MEW-D
	By: Eckhardt	S.B. No. 343

	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.