Moody Bill Opens Habeas Door Wider For Science Claims

The text as introduced · 1,481 words

90R4126 JRR-D

By: Moody
H.B. No. 528

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to postconviction applications for a writ of habeas

corpus.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article 1.051(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is

amended to read as follows:

(d) An eligible indigent defendant is entitled to have the

trial court appoint an attorney to represent the defendant [ him ] in

the following appellate and postconviction habeas corpus matters:

(1) an appeal to a court of appeals;

(2) an appeal to the court of criminal appeals [ Court

of Criminal Appeals ] if the appeal is made directly from the trial

court or if a petition for discretionary review has been granted;

(3) a habeas corpus proceeding if :

(A) the defendant raises a claim governed by

Article 11.073; or

(B) the court concludes that the interests of

justice require representation; and

(4) any other appellate proceeding if the court

concludes that the interests of justice require representation.

SECTION 2. Section 5, Article 11.07, Code of Criminal

Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the court

of criminal appeals [ The Court of Criminal Appeals ] may deny relief

upon the findings and conclusions of the hearing judge without

docketing the cause, or may direct that the cause be docketed and

heard as though originally presented to said court or as an appeal.

Upon reviewing the record the court shall enter its judgment

remanding the applicant to custody or ordering the applicant's

[ his ] release, as the law and facts may justify. The mandate of the

court shall issue to the court issuing the writ, as in other

criminal cases. After conviction the procedure outlined in this

article [ Act ] shall be exclusive and any other proceeding shall be

void and of no force and effect in discharging the prisoner.

(b) The court of criminal appeals may not deny relief on a

claim governed by Article 11.073 except by a written decision

addressing the merits of the claim.

SECTION 3. Section 5, Article 11.071, Code of Criminal

Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,

the court of criminal appeals may consider a subsequent application

that fails to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a) if the

court finds that justice requires the court to consider the

application. If the court of criminal appeals makes the finding

described by this subsection, the convicting court may take further

action on the application. If the court of criminal appeals does

not make the finding described by this subsection, the court shall

issue an order dismissing the application as an abuse of the writ

under this section.

SECTION 4. Section 6(b-1), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal

Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(b-1) If the convicting court receives notice that the

requirements of Section 5 [ 5(a) ] for consideration of a subsequent

application have been met and if the applicant has not elected to

proceed pro se and is not represented by retained counsel, the

convicting court shall appoint, in order of priority:

(1) the attorney who represented the applicant in the

proceedings under Section 5, if the attorney seeks the appointment;

(2) the office of capital and forensic writs, if the

office represented the applicant in the proceedings under Section 5

or otherwise accepts the appointment; or

(3) counsel from a list of competent counsel

maintained by the presiding judges of the administrative judicial

regions under Section 78.056, Government Code, if the office of

capital and forensic writs:

(A) did not represent the applicant as described

by Subdivision (2); or

(B) does not accept or is prohibited from

accepting the appointment under Section 78.054, Government Code.

SECTION 5. Article 11.073, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

amended to read as follows:

Art. 11.073. PROCEDURE RELATED TO CERTAIN SCIENTIFIC

EVIDENCE. (a) This article applies to relevant scientific

evidence that:

(1) was not reasonably available to be offered by a

convicted person at the convicted person's trial; or

(2) contradicts or tends to negate scientific evidence

relied on by the state at trial.

(b) A court may grant a convicted person relief on an

application for a writ of habeas corpus if:

(1) the convicted person files an application, in the

manner provided by Article 11.07, 11.071, or 11.072, containing

specific facts indicating that:

(A) relevant scientific evidence is currently

available and was not available at the time of the convicted

person's trial because the evidence was not ascertainable through

the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person before

the date of or during the convicted person's trial; and

(B) the scientific evidence would be admissible

under the Texas Rules of Evidence at a trial held on the date of the

application; and

(2) the court makes the findings described by

Subdivisions (1)(A) and (B) and also finds that, had the scientific

evidence been presented at trial, there is a reasonable likelihood

the scientific evidence could have affected the person's conviction

or the sentence imposed [ on the preponderance of the evidence the

person would not have been convicted ].

(c) [ For purposes of ] Section 4(a)(1), Article 11.07,

Section 5(a)(1), Article 11.071, and Section 9(a), Article 11.072,

apply to a claim governed by this article only if the claim has been

previously presented in an application filed by an attorney [ or

issue could not have been presented previously in an original

application or in a previously considered application if the claim

or issue is based on relevant scientific evidence that was not

ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the

convicted person on or before the date on which the original

application or a previously considered application, as applicable,

was filed ].

(d) In making a finding as to whether relevant scientific

evidence was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable

diligence [ on or ] before the [ a specific ] date of or during the

convicted person's trial , the court shall consider whether the

field of scientific knowledge, a testifying expert's scientific

knowledge, or a scientific method on which the relevant scientific

evidence is based has changed since [ :

[ (1) ] the applicable trial date or dates [ , for a

determination made with respect to an original application; or

[ (2) the date on which the original application or a

previously considered application, as applicable, was filed, for a

determination made with respect to a subsequent application ].

SECTION 6. Chapter 11, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

amended by adding Article 11.66 to read as follows:

Art. 11.66. WRIT REQUIRING ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN RELEVANT

DOCUMENTS FOR POSTCONVICTION WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS APPLICATION.

(a) A person may file a petition for a writ under this article in a

district court to require the issuance of documents described by

Subsection (b)(2)(B) related to filing an application for a writ of

habeas corpus under this chapter.

(b) A person may file a petition for a writ under this

article only if:

(1) the person is an attorney licensed in this state;

(2) the person affirms in the petition that:

(A) the person is seeking to file an application

for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of an applicant after a final

conviction; and

(B) the person cannot in good faith file the

application until the person obtains documents relevant to a ground

for relief in the application; and

(3) the person provides the office of the attorney

representing the state in the applicant's case with reasonable

notice of the person's intention to file a petition for a writ under

this article.

(c) A district court's jurisdiction under this article is

invoked by the filing of the petition described by this article and

is limited to matters relating to the petition and the issuance of

relevant documents as requested by the petition.

SECTION 7. Section 24.011, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 24.011. WRIT POWER. A judge of a district court may,

either in termtime or vacation, grant a writ [ writs ] of mandamus,

injunction, sequestration, attachment, garnishment, certiorari,

and supersedeas , a writ to require the issuance of documents under

Article 11.66, Code of Criminal Procedure, and any [ all ] other writ

[ writs ] necessary to the enforcement of the court's jurisdiction.

SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the

effective date of this Act. An application filed before the

effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the

date the application was filed, and the former law is continued in

effect for that purpose.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2027.