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Senate Bill 1360 |
Senate Author: Rodriguez |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Herrero et al. |
Senate Bill 1360 amends the Penal Code to make a tampering with a witness offense the greater of a third-degree felony or the most serious offense charged in the criminal case if the underlying official proceeding involves family violence and the greater of a second-degree felony or the most serious offense charged in the criminal case if the underlying proceeding involves family violence and the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense involving family violence under Texas laws or another state's laws. The bill establishes the circumstances under which a person is considered to coerce a witness or prospective witness for purposes of the previously described conduct constituting tampering with a witness.
Senate Bill 1360 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a party to the prosecution of a tampering with a witness offense in which the underlying official proceeding involved family violence or in which the actor is alleged to have committed the offense by committing an act of family violence against a witness or prospective witness to offer testimony or evidence of all relevant facts and circumstances that would assist the trier of fact in determining whether the actor's conduct coerced the witness or prospective witness. The bill prohibits a party to a criminal case who wrongfully procures the unavailability of a witness or prospective witness from benefiting from the wrongdoing by depriving the trier of fact of relevant evidence and testimony and specifies that such party forfeits the party's right to object to the admissibility of evidence or statements based on that unavailability through forfeiture by wrongdoing. The bill establishes provisions regarding the admissibility and use of evidence and statements related to a party that has engaged or acquiesced in such wrongdoing to make a showing of forfeiture by wrongdoing and prescribes procedures for a court in determining the admissibility of such evidence or statements. The bill specifies that a conviction for a tampering with a witness offense or an obstruction or retaliation offense creates a presumption of forfeiture by wrongdoing. The bill provides for the applicability of certain rules of evidence to its forfeiture by wrongdoing provisions.