Has anyone been following this bill and does it have some support. It gives the judge the opportunity to determine whether a defendant is mentally retarded at the time of the commission of the offense in a capital case. If some one would give me some feed back if anyone is fighting the wording of the bill.

The best way to get the inside scoop is to call Shannon Edmonds at TDCAA. The Texas Legislature Online lists that the bill is still in committee. That's it.

[This message was edited by David Newell on 05-10-05 at .]

If it is the case that retarded defendants cannot be executed and it is also the case that defendants have the right to have the jury decide fact issues that impact punishment...

I must not be clear on something here... I'm only a layman.

It's a really long story, but the short one is that there are two competing bills on the subject, as there were last session. The Ellis bill is supported by criminal defense attorneys and anti-death penalty groups. The Staples/Keel bill is supported by prosecutors.

Last session the Staples/Keel bill got the farthest but was stopped by Ellis in the Senate by preventing it from coming up for a vote. Knowing that was the result last time, there has not really been much effort to push either bill this session. Sort of nuclear weapons aimed in opposite directions for detente.

Meanwhile, the trial courts are largely left to craft their own approaches, which has largely followed the Staples/Keel bill. The Court of Criminal Appeals has more or less approved a similar process. There not being any immediate crisis on the subject, no action is the word of the day.

When last I checked, no bill on retardation was moving in either chamber.

What is the current proceedure to determine whether a defendant is mental retarded? Have a hearing before guilt or innocence trial or after guilty presented as a special issue? Does the jury determine or does the judge? The judge is under the impression that he can find the defendant mentally retarded.

Your question requires a long and complicated answer. TDCAA has answered it many times and has a packet of info that can be distributed to prosecutors facing this issue. Give them a call.