HB262 Summary

• Amends Section 13A-5-42 of the Alabama Code to limit the state's requirement to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to cases where the death penalty is to be imposed.

• Allows a defendant indicted for a capital offense to plead guilty, with the guilty plea considered as evidence in determining whether the state has met its burden of proof.

• In cases where either the death penalty or life without parole is to be imposed, a guilty plea waives all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceeding except for insufficiency of evidence.

• A defendant convicted of a capital offense after pleading guilty must be sentenced according to Section 13A-5-43(d).

• Effective on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor, or upon becoming law.