C.S.H.B. 2625 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


C.S.H.B. 2625
By: Lewis
Criminal Jurisprudence
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In the 77th Texas Legislature, a bill was proposed which would have
required a peace officer's testimony, along with testimony of a
confidential informant (CI) and corroborating evidence, to obtain a
conviction under Texas' Controlled Substances Act. The bill was inspired
by the infamous cases in the cities of Tulia and Hearne, where dozens of
people were imprisoned on the uncorroborated testimony of corrupt police
or the false testimony of confidential informants. The final version of
the bill that passed, House Bill 2351, was a compromise which required
corroborating evidence only for the testimony of a CI, and not that of a
peace officer, to obtain a conviction under Texas' Controlled Substances
Act. 
    
Upon implementation of H.B. 2351, it was revealed that in Dallas County,
CIs used by District Attorneys and certain police officers to secure
hundreds of convictions had falsely set up dozens of innocent people
(mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants) with fake narcotics. Nearly 90 cases
were dropped after it was determined that more than half of the "cocaine"
seized by the Dallas Police Department in 2001 was fake, along with more
than 1/4 of the methamphetamines.  

In dozens of separate "field tests," Dallas police claimed to find
positive results for cocaine where later analysis proved there was none.
Those field test kits have been subsequently misplaced. Meanwhile,
credible allegations that officers set up innocent people in drug stings
have forced cases to be dropped and officers to be indicted in the
counties of Floresville and Denton. The reasonable conclusion is that in
the state of Texas incidents like these show that too many innocent people
have been set up by corrupt law enforcement too many times to deny that a
problem exists.  

C.S.H.B. 2625 would require there to be corroborating evidence to support
the testimony of anyone, even law enforcement officers, operating in an
undercover drug sting as an agent of law enforcement as a party to the
transaction, for a conviction. This language would include only
convictions under the Controlled Substances Act.  

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. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2625 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit a
defendant from being convicted of an offense under Chapter 481 of the
Health and Safety Code, on the testimony of any person who is a party to a
transaction acting covertly on behalf of a law enforcement agency or under
the color of law enforcement  unless the testimony is corroborated by
other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense
committed.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2003.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute prohibits a defendant from being convicted of an offense on
the testimony of any  person who is a party to a transaction and is acting
covertly on behalf of a law enforcement agency, unless corroborated by
other evidence.  The original bill prohibited conviction of an offense on
the testimony of any person acting covertly on behalf of a law enforcement
agency, unless corroborated by other evidence.