1-1 By: Hinojosa, Thompson H.B. No. 2351 1-2 (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte) 1-3 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001; 1-4 May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal 1-5 Justice; May 11, 2001, rereferred to Committee on Jurisprudence; 1-6 May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, 1-7 Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-9 AN ACT 1-10 relating to requiring the corroboration of certain testimony in a 1-11 criminal case involving controlled substances. 1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-13 SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended 1-14 by adding Article 38.141 to read as follows: 1-15 Art. 38.141. TESTIMONY OF UNDERCOVER PEACE OFFICER. (a)(1) 1-16 Except as provided by Subsection (b), a defendant may not be 1-17 convicted of an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, 1-18 on the testimony of an undercover peace officer or of a person 1-19 acting covertly on behalf of a law enforcement agency or under the 1-20 color of law enforcement unless the testimony is corroborated by 1-21 other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense 1-22 committed. 1-23 (2) Corroboration may include the testimony of 1-24 witnesses described by Subdivision (1) or the production of 1-25 evidence of paraphernalia, fingerprints, audio or video recordings, 1-26 or an effort to evade arrest. 1-27 (3) Corroboration is not sufficient for the purposes 1-28 of this article if the corroboration only shows the commission of 1-29 the offense. 1-30 (b)(1) This article does not require the corroboration of 1-31 the testimony of an undercover peace officer who has been employed 1-32 as a full-time peace officer for at least one year before the 1-33 undercover operation leading to the arrest of the defendant, who 1-34 holds a peace officer's license that has not been suspended or 1-35 revoked at the time of the operation, and who during the operation 1-36 complied with guidelines of the officer's agency or the Commission 1-37 on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education designed to 1-38 ensure the reliability of the identification of the defendant as 1-39 the person who the officer believes committed the offense. 1-40 (2) The requirement under Subdivision (1) that an 1-41 undercover peace officer must have been employed as a full-time 1-42 peace officer for at least one year does not apply to a peace 1-43 officer participating in an undercover operation at or primarily 1-44 involving the students of a school or institution of higher 1-45 education. 1-46 (c) In this article: 1-47 (1) "Institution of higher education" means any public 1-48 or private technical institute, junior college, senior college or 1-49 university, medical or dental unit, or other agency of higher 1-50 education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code. 1-51 (2) "Peace officer" means an individual listed in 1-52 Article 2.12. 1-53 (3) "School" means a public or private elementary or 1-54 secondary school. 1-55 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 1-56 * * * * *