1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 460
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 10, 1999; February 15, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 March 15, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 4, Nays 1; March 15, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Armbrister
1-7 Amend S.B. No. 460, SECTION 1, page 1, by striking in line
1-8 21 "An" and reinstating the current language in lieu thereof:
1-9 "No"
1-10 Amend S.B. No. 460, SECTION 1, page 1, by striking lines 24
1-11 through 26, and substituting the following in lieu thereof:
1-12 "accused was given the warning in Subsection (a) of Section 2
1-13 above or its fully effective equivalent [:]"
1-14 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-15 AN ACT
1-16 relating to the admissibility in a criminal proceeding of an oral
1-17 or sign language statement made by the accused.
1-18 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-19 SECTION 1. Section 3, Article 38.22, Code of Criminal
1-20 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-21 Sec. 3. (a) An [No] oral or sign language statement of an
1-22 accused made as a result of custodial interrogation is [shall be]
1-23 admissible against the accused in a criminal proceeding unless the
1-24 admission of the statement would violate a provision of the
1-25 constitution or laws of the United States or of this state,
1-26 including the applicable rules of evidence[:]
1-27 [(1) an electronic recording, which may include motion
1-28 picture, video tape, or other visual recording, is made of the
1-29 statement;]
1-30 [(2) prior to the statement but during the recording
1-31 the accused is given the warning in Subsection (a) of Section 2
1-32 above and the accused knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
1-33 waives any rights set out in the warning;]
1-34 [(3) the recording device was capable of making an
1-35 accurate recording, the operator was competent, and the recording
1-36 is accurate and has not been altered;]
1-37 [(4) all voices on the recording are identified; and]
1-38 [(5) not later than the 20th day before the date of
1-39 the proceeding, the attorney representing the defendant is provided
1-40 with a true, complete, and accurate copy of all recordings of the
1-41 defendant made under this article].
1-42 (b) [Every electronic recording of any statement made by an
1-43 accused during a custodial interrogation must be preserved until
1-44 such time as the defendant's conviction for any offense relating
1-45 thereto is final, all direct appeals therefrom are exhausted, or
1-46 the prosecution of such offenses is barred by law.]
1-47 [(c) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any
1-48 statement which contains assertions of facts or circumstances that
1-49 are found to be true and which conduce to establish the guilt of
1-50 the accused, such as the finding of secreted or stolen property or
1-51 the instrument with which he states the offense was committed.]
1-52 [(d)] If the accused is a deaf person, the accused's
1-53 statement under Section 2 or Section 3(a) of this article is not
1-54 admissible against the accused unless the warning in Section 2 of
1-55 this article is interpreted to the deaf person by an interpreter
1-56 who is qualified and sworn as provided in Article 38.31 of this
1-57 code.
1-58 [(e) The courts of this state shall strictly construe
1-59 Subsection (a) of this section and may not interpret Subsection (a)
1-60 as making admissible a statement unless all requirements of the
1-61 subsection have been satisfied by the state, except that:]
1-62 [(1) only voices that are material are identified; and]
1-63 [(2) the accused was given the warning in Subsection
2-1 (a) of Section 2 above or its fully effective equivalent.]
2-2 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
2-3 to an oral or sign language statement made on or after the
2-4 effective date of this Act. A statement made before the effective
2-5 date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the statement
2-6 was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-7 purpose.
2-8 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-14 * * * * *