CAUSE NO. «CAUSENO»
THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE «COURTNO» DISTRICT COURT
VS. § OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS
«DEFENDANT» § «MONTH» TERM, A. D., «YEAR»
Members of the Jury:
This matter is submitted to you on Special Issues, which you will answer from the evidence you have heard in the trial.
The Court now gives you certain definitions and instructions by which you will be governed in arriving at your answers to the questions submitted to you.
"Mental retardation" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that is concurrent with deficits in adaptive behavior and originates during the developmental period.
"Sub average general intellectual functioning" refers to measured intelligence on standardized psychometric instruments of two or more standard deviations below the age-group mean for the tests used.
"Person with mental retardation" means a person determined by a physician or psychologist licensed in this state or certified by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Retardation to be of subaverage general intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive behavior.
The term "Mental Hospital" means a hospital operated for the primary purpose of providing in-patient care and treatment for persons with mental retardation. It is a hospital operated by an agency of the government and equipped to provide in-patient care and treatment for persons with mental illness, including persons with mental retardation.
You are instructed that under our law a person with mental retardation must meet certain criteria before he can be subjected
to court-ordered mental health services. Those are:
(1) the proposed patient suffers from mental retardation;
(2) as a result of that mental retardation the proposed patient:
(A) is likely to cause serious harm to himself,
(B) is likely to cause serious harm to others, or
(C) is
(i) suffering severe and abnormal mental, emotional, or physical distress;
(ii) experiencing substantial mental or physical deterioration of his ability to function independently, which is exhibited by his inability, except for reasons of indigence, to provide for his basic needs, including food, clothing, health or safety; and
(iii) unable to make a rational and informed decision as to whether or not to submit to treatment.
The Burden of Proof is upon the State to prove each of the below listed Special Issues by Clear and Convincing Evidence.
The term "Clear and Convincing Evidence" means that measure or degree of proof which will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established. This is an intermediate standard, falling between the preponderance standard of ordinary civil proceedings and the reasonable doubt standard of criminal proceedings. If you find that the State has proved a Special Issue by Clear and Convincing Evidence, you will answer that Special Issue "We do" otherwise you will answer that Special Issue "We do not".
After you retire, you will select one of your members as your Foreman and it will be his or her duty to write your answers in the blanks that follow each Special Issue.
You may render your verdict upon the vote of ten or more members of the jury. The same ten or more of you must agree upon all of the answers made and to the entire verdict. You shall not enter into an agreement to be bound by a majority, or any vote of fewer than ten jurors.
If the verdict and all of the answers are reached by unanimous agreement, the foreman shall sign the verdict for the entire jury. If any juror disagrees as to any answer made by the verdict, those jurors who agree to all findings shall sign the verdict.
Now, bearing in mind the foregoing definitions and instructions, you will answer the following Special Issues.
When all issues have been answered, the jury will sign the certificate following your answers and return the same into Court as your verdict.
«JUDGE», Judge
«COURTNO1» District Court
Harris County, TEXAS
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 1
Do you find by Clear and Convincing Evidence that «DEFENDANT1» is a person with mental retardation?
Answer "We do" or "We do not":
ANSWER:
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 2
If you have found the answer to Special Issue No. 1 to be "We do", do you find by Clear and Convincing Evidence that «DEFENDANT1» meets the criteria for Court-ordered mental health services in that because of mental retardation, he is likely to cause serious harm to himself?
Answer "We do" or "We do not":
ANSWER:
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 2A
If you have found the answer to Special Issue No. 1 to be "We do", do you find by Clear and Convincing Evidence that «DEFENDANT1» meets the criteria for Court-ordered mental health services in that because of mental retardation, he is likely to cause serious harm to others?
Answer "We do" or "We do not":
ANSWER:
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 2B
If you have found the answer to Special Issue No. 1 to be "We do", do you find by Clear and Convincing Evidence that «DEFENDANT1» meets the criteria for Court-ordered mental health services in that because of mental retardation, he is
(i) suffering severe and abnormal mental, emotional, or physical distress;
(ii) experiencing substantial mental or physical deterioration of his ability to function independently, which is exhibited by his inability, except for reasons of indigence, to provide for his basic needs, including food, clothing, health, or safety; and
(iii) unable to make a rational and informed decision as to whether or not to submit to treatment?
Answer "We do" or "We do not":
ANSWER:
CERTIFICATE
We, the jury, have answered the above questions as here indicated and return them into court as our verdict.
(To be signed by the foreman of the jury if unanimous.)
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Date Foreman of the Jury
(To be signed by those rendering the verdict if not unanimous.)
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