By: Armbrister S.B. No. 460
99S0185/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the admissibility in a criminal proceeding of an oral
1-2 or sign language statement made by the accused.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 3, Article 38.22, Code of Criminal
1-5 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 3. (a) An [No] oral or sign language statement of an
1-7 accused made as a result of custodial interrogation is [shall be]
1-8 admissible against the accused in a criminal proceeding unless the
1-9 admission of the statement would violate a provision of the
1-10 constitution or laws of the United States or of this state,
1-11 including the applicable rules of evidence[:]
1-12 [(1) an electronic recording, which may include motion
1-13 picture, video tape, or other visual recording, is made of the
1-14 statement;]
1-15 [(2) prior to the statement but during the recording
1-16 the accused is given the warning in Subsection (a) of Section 2
1-17 above and the accused knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
1-18 waives any rights set out in the warning;]
1-19 [(3) the recording device was capable of making an
1-20 accurate recording, the operator was competent, and the recording
1-21 is accurate and has not been altered;]
1-22 [(4) all voices on the recording are identified; and]
1-23 [(5) not later than the 20th day before the date of
1-24 the proceeding, the attorney representing the defendant is provided
2-1 with a true, complete, and accurate copy of all recordings of the
2-2 defendant made under this article].
2-3 (b) [Every electronic recording of any statement made by an
2-4 accused during a custodial interrogation must be preserved until
2-5 such time as the defendant's conviction for any offense relating
2-6 thereto is final, all direct appeals therefrom are exhausted, or
2-7 the prosecution of such offenses is barred by law.]
2-8 [(c) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any
2-9 statement which contains assertions of facts or circumstances that
2-10 are found to be true and which conduce to establish the guilt of
2-11 the accused, such as the finding of secreted or stolen property or
2-12 the instrument with which he states the offense was committed.]
2-13 [(d)] If the accused is a deaf person, the accused's
2-14 statement under Section 2 or Section 3(a) of this article is not
2-15 admissible against the accused unless the warning in Section 2 of
2-16 this article is interpreted to the deaf person by an interpreter
2-17 who is qualified and sworn as provided in Article 38.31 of this
2-18 code.
2-19 [(e) The courts of this state shall strictly construe
2-20 Subsection (a) of this section and may not interpret Subsection (a)
2-21 as making admissible a statement unless all requirements of the
2-22 subsection have been satisfied by the state, except that:]
2-23 [(1) only voices that are material are identified; and]
2-24 [(2) the accused was given the warning in Subsection
2-25 (a) of Section 2 above or its fully effective equivalent.]
2-26 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
3-1 to an oral or sign language statement made on or after the
3-2 effective date of this Act. A statement made before the effective
3-3 date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the statement
3-4 was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-5 purpose.
3-6 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.