Terri Hodge has filed HB 2267 that would end the death penalty under the Law of Parties, so now there are two Law of Parties bill. Rep Dutton also has filed one, HB 304. Now that Hodge has filed a Law of Parties bill our chances are improved of getting a hearing and actually getting the bill passed in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, since she is a member of that committee. Last week, we held a press conference at the capitol on the issue of the Law of Parties with the families of Kenneth Foster and Jeff Wood. We also meet with the general counsel of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee about the Law of Parties.
Hodge was one of the legislators we got to sign a clemency letter for Kenneth Foster in 2007.
On March 24, there will be a Lobby Day Against the Death Penalty at the Capitol and one of the issues we will be advocated for on that day is ending the Death Penalty under the Law of Parties.
81R9476 GCB-D
By: Hodge
H.B. No. 2267
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the joint or separate prosecution of a capital felony
charged against two or more defendants and the extent of a
defendant’s criminal responsibility for the conduct of a
coconspirator in capital felony cases.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 36.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 36.09. SEVERANCE ON SEPARATE INDICTMENTS. (a) Two
or more defendants who are jointly or separately indicted or
complained against for the same offense or any offense growing out
of the same transaction may be, in the discretion of the court,
tried jointly or separately as to one or more defendants; provided
that in any event either defendant may testify for the other or on
behalf of the state; and provided further, that in cases in which,
upon timely motion to sever, and evidence introduced thereon, it is
made known to the court that there is a previous admissible
conviction against one defendant or that a joint trial would be
prejudicial to any defendant, the court shall order a severance as
to the defendant whose joint trial would prejudice the other
defendant or defendants.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the court may not join
two or more defendants in the same criminal trial if any defendant
to be tried is indicted or complained against for a capital felony,
and the court shall order a severance as to any two or more
defendants who are jointly indicted or complained against for a
capital felony.
SECTION 2. Section 1, Article 37.071, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1. (a) If a defendant is found guilty in a capital
felony case in which the state does not seek the death penalty, the
judge shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without
parole.
(b) A defendant who is found guilty in a capital felony case
only as a party under Section 7.02(b), Penal Code, may not be
sentenced to death, and the state may not seek the death penalty in
any case in which the defendant’s liability is based solely on that
section.
SECTION 3. Section 2, Article 37.0711, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2. (a) If a defendant is found guilty in a case in
which the state does not seek the death penalty, the judge shall
sentence the defendant to life imprisonment.
(b) A defendant who is found guilty in a capital felony case
only as a party under Section 7.02(b), Penal Code, may not be
sentenced to death, and the state may not seek the death penalty in
any case in which the defendant’s liability is based solely on that
section.
SECTION 4. Article 36.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a trial commenced in a criminal
case on or after the effective date of this Act. A trial commenced
before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
effect when the trial commenced, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. Section 1, Article 37.071, and Section 2,
Article 37.0711, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this
Act, apply only to the sentence imposed in a criminal proceeding
that commences on or after the effective date of this Act. The
sentence imposed in a criminal proceeding that commenced before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
