AEZ H.B. 312 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE H.B. 312 By: Place 2-13-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND The Punishment Standards Commission recommended to the 73rd Legislature that the offense of compounding be combined with tampering with a witness (Section 36.05, Tampering with Witness) because of the similarity of the offenses. Compounding occurs when a witness solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any benefit and then abstains, delays or discontinues the prosecution of another for an offense. In the rewritten statute, a "glitch" occurred and the new law relating to compounding inadvertently reads "to abstain from, discontinue, or delay the prosecution of another witness." PURPOSE This bill, if enacted, will clean up the language in the present statute to remove the unintended word witness, thereby eliminating misunderstandings as to the intent of the law. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 36.05 (a)(5)Penal Code Tampering With a Witness by deleting the word "witness" from abstaining, discontinuing, or delaying the prosecution of another. SECTION 2. Change in law applies to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this legislation. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 4. Emergency Clause