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.
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