Amends TCA Title 8; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41 and Title 55, Chapter 10, Part 4.

ON MARCH 30, 2023, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1002, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to revise provisions of present law pertaining to post-conviction procedure. ATTORNEY GENERAL AND REPORTER Present law generally makes it the responsibility of district attorneys general responsible for representing the state in post-conviction proceedings. In cases where a defendant has been sentenced to death and is seeking collateral review of a conviction or sentence, this amendment gives the attorney general and reporter exclusive control over the state's defense of the request for collateral review. The attorney general and reporter will not be bound by any stipulations, concessions, or other agreements made by a district attorney general related to a request for collateral review. This amendment restricts a trial court from entering a final order granting relief on a request for collateral review until the attorney general and reporter files a response to the request. This amendment provides that the state will be responsible for the attorney general and reporter's expenses associated with post-conviction proceedings to the same extent as district attorneys general in non-capital cases. This amendment requires district attorneys general and their staff to lend necessary assistance to the attorney general and reporter in the trial and disposition of requests for collateral review. This amendment defines collateral review as any post-conviction proceeding, including a petition requesting analysis of evidence, a proceeding to determine if a defendant had an intellectual disability at the time the defendant committed first degree murder, a proceeding for a writ of error coram nobis, a proceeding involving a challenge to a capital inmate's competency to be executed, and any other judicial reexamination of a judgment or claim in a proceeding outside the direct review process. INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED DEFENDANTS Under present law, a defendant with an intellectual disability at the time of committing first degree murder may not be sentenced to death. The burden of production and persuasion to demonstrate intellectual disability by a preponderance of the evidence is upon the defendant. The determination of whether the defendant had intellectual disability at the time of the offense of first degree murder must be made by the court. A determination by the trier of fact that the defendant does not have intellectual disability must not be appealable by interlocutory appeal, but may be a basis of appeal by either the state or defendant following the sentencing stage of the trial. A defendant sentenced to death prior to May 11, 2021, and whose conviction is final on direct review may petition the trial court for a determination of whether the defendant is intellectually disabled. The motion must set forth a colorable claim that the defendant is ineligible for the death penalty due to intellectual disability. This amendment reopens the period within which a defendant may petition for review for a determination of whether the defendant is intellectually disabled from a defendant who was sentenced to the death penalty prior to May 11, 2021, to a defendant who was sentenced to the death penalty prior to the date that this bill becomes a law. This amendment requires the defendant filing a motion under these provisions to serve the attorney general and reporter. ON APRIL 10, 2022, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 1002 FOR SENATE BILL 1500, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1002, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 incorporates the changes made by House Amendment #1 and adds that, when a defendant is sentenced to death after March 1, 2023, the trial of an original petition for post-conviction relief is not collateral review over which the attorney general and reporter has exclusive authority. All other proceedings involving a defendant who has been sentenced to death after March 1, 2023, including reopened post-conviction proceedings will be under the exclusive authority of the attorney general and reporter.