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Senate Bill 344 |
Senate Author: Whitmire |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Turner, Sylvester et al. |
Senate Bill 344 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a court to grant a convicted person relief on an application for a writ of habeas corpus if the person files an application containing specific facts indicating that relevant scientific evidence is currently available and was not available at the time of the person's trial because the evidence was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the person before or during the person's trial and would be admissible under the Texas Rules of Evidence at a trial held on the application date and if the court makes those findings and also finds that, had the scientific evidence been presented at trial, on the preponderance of the evidence, the person would not have been convicted. The bill specifies that a claim or issue, for purposes of a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus, could not have been presented previously in an original or previously considered application if the claim or issue is based on relevant scientific evidence that was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person on or before the date the respective application was filed. The bill establishes requirements for a court in making a finding as to whether relevant scientific evidence was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence on or before a specific date.