Proposed Legislation Overview

S. B. 1692; H. B. 2064

This bill would exclude people with a Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), who have been accused of a first degree murder, from execution.

The bill includes 3 major parts:

1. This bill defines SPMI very narrowly
1. Only individuals that have psychiatric diagnoses or symptoms consistent with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression with psychosis
2. Only individuals whose psychiatric diagnoses or symptoms are characterize by delusions, hallucinations, or other symptoms of psychosis (not attributable to drugs/alcohol)
3. Only individuals that have a documented medical history of mental illness
2. This bill creates a simple process where a judge will make a determination prior to trial if a defendant suffers from SPMI. If the judge determines the defendant suffers from SPMI, the maximum penalty the defendant could receive from the jury would be life without parole
3. This bill allows a judge's decision regarding SPMI can be appealed

Links to Helpful Resources

• "Double Tragedies: Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty For People with Severe Mental Illness," National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2009: http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Issue_Spotlights&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=81845



• "Mental Illness and the Death Penalty in North Carolina: A Diagnostic Approach," Charlotte School of Law, 2007: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/CharlotteMI.pdf



• Mental Illness and the Death Penalty, Death Penalty Information Center: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/mental-illness-and-death-penalty



• American Bar Association Resolution 122A recommended the exemption of people with mental illness from death penalty sentencing.

Proposed SPMI Legislation, as of April 2011

SENATE BILL 1692/HOUSE BILL 2064

By Senator Burks and Representative Matheny

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2, relative to imposition of the death penalty against certain defendants.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2, is amended by adding the following new section:

39-13-219.

         (a) For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

             (1) “Delusions” means fixed, clearly false beliefs;

             (2) “Hallucinations” means clearly erroneous perceptions of reality; and

             (3) “Severe and persistent mental illness” means an individual:

                   (A) Has a psychiatric diagnosis or symptoms consistent with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression with psychosis, as specified in the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; and

                   (B) Has a psychiatric diagnosis or symptoms characterized by delusions, hallucinations or other symptoms of psychosis that are not attributable to the acute effects of alcohol or other drugs; and

                   (C) Has a documented medical history of the items listed in subdivisions (a)(3)(A) and (a)(3)(B).

        (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no defendant with a severe and persistent mental illness at the time of committing the offense of murder in first degree shall receive a sentence of death.

        (c) The burden of producing evidence to demonstrate a severe and persistent mental illness and persuading the judge that the defendant, at the time of the offense, suffered from such an illness shall be upon the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence. If the defendant raises the issue, the determination of whether the defendant suffered from a severe and persistent mental illness at the time of the offense of first degree murder shall be made by the judge at a hearing prior to adjudication of the charges.

       (d) If the judge determines that the defendant was a person with severe and persistent mental illness at the time of the offense, the punishment, upon conviction of first degree murder, shall be either life imprisonment or life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Section 39-13-207 shall govern the sentencing proceeding.

       (e) If the judge determines that the defendant is not a person with severe and persistent mental illness, the defendant shall still be entitled to offer evidence of insanity, of diminished mental capacity or mental illness at trial and if convicted of first degree murder, as a mitigating circumstance pursuant to § 39-13-204(j)(8).

       (f) The determination whether a defendant was a person with severe and persistent mental illness at the time of the offense shall be appealable by interlocutory appeal.

      (g) This section shall not be construed as retroactive.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

Contact information

For questions about the death penalty and the SPMI legislation in TN, email matt.frierdich@gmail.com.