Under the Texas system, if a jury convicts a defendant of murder, it then proceeds to address the question of punishment with the alternatives being life imprisonment or death. A detailed analysis of provisions governing this sentencing proceeding demonstrates how they fail to satisfy the requirements of due process. In summary, the mandated sentencing procedure misleads jurors by requiring instructions which suggest that the number of juror votes necessary to opt for a sentence of life imprisonment is greater than the actual numerical requirement imposed by State law. Second, the procedure impresses jurors with a diminished sense of their individual responsibility for the decision to impose the death penalty. Third, the statute encourages jurors to engage in consensus building based on irrelevant and artificial factors, creating an ideal environment for arbitrary and capricious capital sentencing results. 86 footnotes.