Short Title: Criminal procedure; establishing moratorium on death penalty; prohibiting execution of persons with severe developmental disabilities; codification; emergency

Req. No. 8254

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STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 48th Legislature (2002)

HOUSE BILL HB2648 By: Toure

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to criminal procedure; amending 22

O.S. 2001, Sections 1001 and 1001.1, which relate to

death sentences; prohibiting setting of execution

dates within certain period of time; requiring the

Oklahoma Sentencing Commission to study cases

involving homicides; requiring report; providing for

distribution of report; requiring certain entities to

cooperate with Sentencing Commission; providing for

codification; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION

. AMENDATORY 22 O.S. 2001, Section 1001, is

amended to read as follows:

Section 1001. A. When judgment of death is rendered, the judge

must sign and deliver to the sheriff of the county a warrant duly

attested by the clerk, under the seal of the court, stating the

conviction and judgment and appointing a day on which the judgment

is to be executed, which must be not less than sixty (60) nor more

than ninety (90) days from the time of the judgment and must direct

the sheriff to deliver the defendant within ten (10) days from the

time of judgment to the warden of the state prison at McAlester, in

this state, for execution.

B. A judge shall not appoint a day on which the judgment is to

be executed which falls during the period beginning on March 1,

2002, and ending on March 1, 2003. A judge shall enter an order of

continuance for any judgment of death previously set which would

result in a judgment of death being executed during the period

beginning on March 1, 2002, and ending on March 1, 2003, to a date

subsequent to March 1, 2003.

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SECTION

. AMENDATORY 22 O.S. 2001, Section 1001.1, is

amended to read as follows:

Section 1001.1 A. The execution of the judgment in cases where

sentence of death is imposed shall be ordered by the Court of

Criminal Appeals to be carried out thirty (30) days after the

defendant fails to meet any of the following time conditions:

1. If a defendant does not file a petition for writ of

certiorari in the United States Supreme Court within ninety (90)

days from the issuance of the mandate in the original state direct

appeal unless a first application for post-conviction relief is

pending;

2. If a defendant does not file an original application for

post-conviction relief in the Court of Criminal Appeals within

ninety (90) days from the filing of the appellee's brief on direct

appeal or, if a reply brief is filed, ninety (90) days from the

filing of that reply brief, or a petition in error to the Court of

Criminal Appeals after remand within thirty (30) days from entry of

judgment by the district court disposing of the application for

post-conviction relief;

3. If a defendant does not file a writ of certiorari to the

United States Supreme Court within ninety (90) days from a denial of

state post-conviction relief by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal

Appeals;

4. If a defendant does not file the first petition for a

federal writ of habeas corpus within sixty (60) days from a denial

of his certiorari petition or from a decision by the United States

Supreme Court from post-conviction relief;

5. If a defendant does not file an appeal in the United States

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from a denial of a federal

writ of habeas corpus within seventy (70) days; or

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6. If a defendant does not file a petition for writ of

certiorari with the United States Supreme Court from a denial of the

appeal of the federal writ of habeas corpus within ninety (90) days.

B. The filing of a petition for rehearing in any federal court

shall not serve to stay the execution dates or the time restraints

set forth in the above section unless the defendant makes the

showing set forth in subsection C of this section. The provisions

of subsection A do not apply to second or subsequent petitions or

appeals filed in any court. The filing of a second or subsequent

petition or appeal in any court does not prevent the setting of an

execution date.

C. When an action challenging the conviction or sentence of

death is pending before it, the Court of Criminal Appeals may stay

an execution date, or issue any order which effectively stays an

execution date only upon a showing by the defendant that there

exists a significant possibility of reversal of the defendant's

conviction, or vacation of the defendant's sentence, and that

irreparable harm will result if no stay is issued.

D. Should a stay of execution be issued by any state or federal

court, a new execution date shall be set by operation of law sixty

(60) days after the dissolution of the stay of execution. The new

execution date shall be set by the Court of Criminal Appeals without

necessity of application by the state, but the Attorney General, on

behalf of the state, shall bring to the attention of the Court of

Criminal Appeals the fact of the dissolution of a stay of execution

and suggest the appropriateness of the setting of a new execution

date.

E. The Court of Criminal Appeals shall not set a date for the

execution of the judgment in cases where a sentence of death has

been imposed during the period beginning on March 1, 2002, and

ending on March 1, 2003. The Court of Criminal Appeals shall enter

an order of continuance for any sentence of death previously set

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which would result in a sentence of death being executed during the

period beginning on March 1, 2002, and ending on March 1, 2003, to a

date subsequent to March 1, 2003. All other proceedings related to

cases in which a judgment of death has been imposed shall proceed

pursuant to law.

SECTION

. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified

in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1517 of Title 22, unless there

is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. 1. The Oklahoma Sentencing Commission shall, prior to

January 1, 2003, review and analyze all cases involving homicide

after July 24, 1976. The review and analysis shall examine the

following items:

a. the facts,

b. mitigating and aggravating circumstances,

c. race, gender, religious preference and economic status

of defendants and victims,

d. the charges filed,

e. results of the judicial proceedings, including

appellate proceedings, and

f. sentence imposed.

2. The Oklahoma Sentencing Commission shall also review and

analyze the following policy-related issues:

a. the costs of lifetime incarceration as opposed to the

costs of imposing the death penalty, including the

cost of death penalty-related appeals,

b. the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent

to crime, and

c. how many defendants have been sentenced to death

nationwide who were subsequently exonerated of the

crime for which the defendant was sentenced to death

during the last twenty (20) years.

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B. A report containing the results of the review and analysis

shall be produced by the Commission. The report shall be presented

to the Office of the Governor, the Speaker of the House of

Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the

Presiding Judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on or

before March 1, 2003.

C. It shall be the duty of all departments, officers, agencies,

and employees of the State of Oklahoma and all the departments,

officers, agencies and employees of the counties of the State of

Oklahoma to cooperate with the Commission or agents of the

Commission in carrying out the provisions of this section of law.

SECTION

. It being immediately necessary for the preservation

of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby

declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and

be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

48-2-8254 LAC 6/12/15