Capital Punishment Legislation in 79th Texas Legislature - 2005 25 death penalty related bills filed as of January 22, 2005. More are expected to be filed later. BillNumber Author Subject Caption Description *********************************** HB452 Dutton Abolition relating to the abolition of the death penalty First introduced in 2003. HB93 Riddle Cause of Death Relating to showing the cause of death on the death certificate of an inmate of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who is lawfully executed. Current death certificates of executed people list cause of death as "Homicide". HB48 Keel Exhibit Disposal Relating to disposal of an exhibit in a capital case. Exhibits could be disposed of five years after death of a defendant. HB458 Dutton Habeas Reform relating to standards for judicial review of certain writs of habeas corpus in capital cases. by "a preponderance of the evidence" ( instead of the current phrase "clear and convincing evidence"), but for a violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror would have answered in the state's favor one or more of the special issues that were submitted to the jury in the applicant's trial. HB408 Dutton Jury Selection relating to jury selection in capital cases Would require a separate jury panel for the punishment phase in death penalty cases. HB333 Burnam Juveniles Relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by a person who is younger than 18 years of age at the time of committing the felony Burnam was the first legislator to introduce a bill to ban executions of juvenile offenders back in 2001. HB434 Dutton Juveniles relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by a by a person who is younger than 18 years of age at the time of committing the felony SB226 Ellis Juveniles Relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by a person who is younger than 18 years of age at the time of committing the felony. If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to ban executions of juvenile offenders, all juvenile offender bills become unnecessary. But the Court may not announce its ruling until the session is essentially or completely over. HB61 McClendon Juveniles Relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by a person who is younger than 18 years of age at the time of committing the felony HB454 Dutton LWOP relating to the punishment for a capital offense HB456 Dutton LWOP relating to the punishment for a capital offense HB284 Goolsby LWOP Relating to the punishment for a capital offense Goolsby is a Republican, which gives the LWOP issue a better chance than in past sessions. SB60 Lucio, Ellis, Hinojosa LWOP relating to the punishment for a capital offense HB66 McClendon LWOP Relating to the punishment for a capital offense. SB85 Ellis Mental Retardation relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with mental retardation. Would allow for hearing to determine mental retardation status before the trial begins. HB419 Keel Mental Retardation relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with mental retardation Prosecutors' Version SB65 Staples Mental Retardation relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with mental retardation. Prosecutors' version HB432 Dutton Moratorium relating to the creation of a commission to study capital punishment in Texas and to a moratorium on executions. Would create a statewide moratorium and study commission without a constitutional amendment HJR24 McClendon Moratorium proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a moratorium in death penalty cases in which analyses performed by a crime laboratory operated by the City of Houston Police Department were admitted into evidence. Would create a moratorium only in cases involving HPD crime lab (Harris County) Like all proposed constitutional amendments, this would require approval by the voters at a general election. This amendment would probably stand a good chance of passing such a vote. HJR14 Naishtat Moratorium proposing a constitutional amendment relating to a moratorium on execution of persons convicted of capital offenses. If approved by the voters of Texas at a general election in November 2005, would give the governor power to call a moratorium, but would not create a moratorium unless the governor called for one. SB228 Ellis Multiple Reprieves relating to the authority of the governor to grant one or more reprieves in a capital case. Companion bill to the proposed constitutional amendment SJR 11 also by Ellis. SJR11 Ellis Multiple Reprieves proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the governor to grant one or more reprieves in a capital case. Currently governor can grant only one 30 day reprieve. Could be used as a tool to enact a de facto moratorium. HB450 Dutton Recording Confessions Relating to admissibility of certain confessions in capital cases Requires confessions in capital cases to be visually recorded. HB431 Dutton Snitch Testimony relating to the admissibility of certain evidence in capital cases Interesting bill that would require jailhouse confessions to be corroborated by a recording, and prohibits accomplice testimony given in exchange for leniency. HB493 Naishtat Study Commission relating to the creation of a commission to study capital punishment in Texas Would create a study commission without a moratorium.
