Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate

________________ C RIMINAL
USTICE/General/General
RIMINAL JUSTICE
77 th Texas Legislature
Attempted Church Burning a Felony - H.B. 171
by Representative Glenn Lewis, et al.
Senate Sponsor: Senator Nelson
Texas law states that no crime has been committed if an intentionally set fire does not continue and no
damage is caused. The burning of a place of worship is considered a first-degree felony, and damages
under $20,000 to places of worship or human burial, public monuments, and community centers that
provide medical, social, or educational programs are considered a state jail felony.
Makes attempting to destroy property by fire a second-degree felony, regardless of the continuation of the
fire.
Makes the burning of, the attempt to burn, or the bombing of a place of assembly or habitation a firstdegree
felony.
Makes the destruction or damage to a public or private elementary school, secondary school, or institute of
higher education a state jail felony if the property loss is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000.
Prohibiting the Execution of a Person with Mental Retardation - H.B. 236
by Representative Hinojosa, et al.
Senate Sponsor: Senator Ellis
Defines "mental retardation" as significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that is concurrent
with deficits in adaptive behavior and originates during the developmental period.
Prohibits a defendant who is convicted of a capital offense and determined to be a person with mental
retardation from being sentenced to death.
Requires a defendant in a capital case to file notice of intent to submit the defendant’s mental retardation
as a special issue with the court and the attorney representing the state not later than the 30th day before
the date the trial commences.
Requires the court, if raised by the evidence and on the written request of the attorney representing the
defendant, to instruct the jury that if the jury returns affirmative findings that there is a probability that the
defendant would commit criminal acts of violence constituting a continuing threat to society and the
defendant caused or intended the death of the deceased or anticipated that a human life, the jury must
answer whether the defendant is a person with mental retardation.
Requires the court, on the written request of the attorney representing the defendant, to instruct the jury
that if the jury answers that the defendant is a person with mental retardation, the court will sentence the
defendant to imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life.
Provides that if the jury then returns a finding that the defendant is not a person with mental retardation, the
defendant may immediately file a petition for a hearing regarding whether the defendant is a person with
mental retardation.
Senate Research Center 49