By: Brown S.B. No. 1414
73R5150 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the admissibility of evidence in criminal cases.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Article 38.23, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Art. 38.23. EVIDENCE NOT TO BE USED. (a) No evidence
1-7 obtained by an officer <or other person> in violation of any
1-8 provisions of the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of
1-9 the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, shall be
1-10 admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of any
1-11 criminal case.
1-12 In any case where the legal evidence raises an issue
1-13 hereunder and where the court having jurisdiction has not made a
1-14 prior ruling on the admissibility of evidence under this chapter,
1-15 the jury shall be instructed that if it believes, or has a
1-16 reasonable doubt, that the evidence was obtained in violation of
1-17 the provisions of this Article, then and in such event, the jury
1-18 shall disregard any such evidence so obtained. If the judge
1-19 submits to the jury an issue as to whether evidence was obtained in
1-20 violation of this Article, the judge shall instruct the jury
1-21 generally on the law relating to the suppression of evidence.
1-22 (b) It is an exception to the provisions of Subsection (a)
1-23 of this Article that the evidence was:
1-24 (1) obtained by a law enforcement officer acting in
2-1 objective good faith reliance upon a warrant issued by a neutral
2-2 magistrate based on probable cause;
2-3 (2) obtained from a source independent of
2-4 constitutional or statutory violations;
2-5 (3) obtained after an intervening cause or event
2-6 sufficient to remove the taint of any constitutional or statutory
2-7 violation; or
2-8 (4) of such a nature that it would have been
2-9 ultimately or inevitably discovered by lawful means.
2-10 SECTION 2. The change in the law made by this Act applies
2-11 only to the admissibility of evidence obtained on or after the
2-12 effective date of this Act. The admissibility of evidence obtained
2-13 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
2-14 effect when the evidence was obtained, and the former law is
2-15 continued in effect for this purpose.
2-16 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
2-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.