By:  Wise                                                         H.B. No. 69 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the admissibility of testimony in civil and criminal 
proceedings.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Chapter 18, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is 
amended by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER D.  HEARSAY
	Sec. 18.091.  CERTAIN STATEMENTS BY CHILDREN. In any civil 
judicial proceeding, a court may admit a statement made out of court 
that is not otherwise admissible under any exception to the rule 
against hearsay if:
		(1)  the statement is made by a child younger than 16 
years of age at the time of making the statement;
		(2)  the statement describes any sexual act or sexual 
contact performed on, with, or by the child in violation of a state 
law; and
		(3)  the court finds that it is in the interests of 
justice to admit the statement.
	Sec. 18.092.  RESIDUAL HEARSAY EVIDENCE EXCEPTION. (a)  In 
any civil judicial proceeding, a court may admit a statement made 
out of court that is not otherwise admissible under any exception to 
the rule against hearsay if the court finds:
		(1)  the statement has circumstantial guarantees of 
trustworthiness equivalent to statements that are admissible under 
a specific exception to the rule against hearsay;
		(2)  the statement is offered as evidence of a material 
fact;        
		(3)  the statement is more probative on the point for 
which it is offered than any other evidence that the party offering 
the statement can procure through reasonable efforts;
		(4)  it is in the interests of justice to admit the 
statement; and   
		(5)  the party offering the statement has complied with 
Subsection (b).
	(b)  A party offering a statement for admission under this 
section must make the party's intention to offer the statement 
known, including the particulars of the statement and the name and 
address of the person who made the statement, to the other parties 
in the proceeding sufficiently in advance of the statement's use in 
the proceeding to allow the other parties a fair opportunity to 
prepare to meet it.
	Sec. 18.093.  CONFLICT WITH RULES. Notwithstanding Section 
22.004, Government Code, the supreme court may not amend or adopt 
rules in conflict with this subchapter.
	SECTION 2.   Section 1, Article 38.071, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1.  This article applies only to a proceeding in the 
prosecution of an offense defined by any of the following sections 
of the Penal Code if the offense is alleged to have been committed 
against a child 16 [12] years of age or younger and who, at the time 
of giving testimony concerning the offense in the manner provided 
by this article, is 16 years of age or younger, and if the trial 
court finds that the child is unavailable to testify at the trial of 
the offense, and applies only to the statements or testimony of that 
child:
		(1)  Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child);                                  
		(2)  Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault);                                         
		(3)  Section 22.02 (Aggravated Assault);                                      
		(4)  Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault);                              
		(5)  Section 22.04(e) (Injury to a Child, Elderly 
Individual, or Disabled Individual);
		(6)  Section 22.04(f) (Injury to a Child, Elderly 
Individual, or Disabled Individual), if the conduct is committed 
intentionally or knowingly;
		(7)  Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct); or                            
		(8)  Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child).                           
	SECTION 3.   Section 1, Article 38.072, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1.  This article applies to a proceeding in the 
prosecution of an offense under any of the following provisions of 
the Penal Code, if committed against a child 16 [12] years of age or 
younger and who, at the time of making a statement describing the 
alleged offense, is 16 years of age or younger:
		(1)  Chapter 21 (Sexual Offenses) or 22 (Assaultive 
Offenses);              
		(2)  Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct);  or                           
		(3)  Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child).                           
	SECTION 4.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to the admissibility of testimony on or after the effective 
date of this Act, without regard to whether the proceeding in which 
the testimony is sought to be admitted commenced before, on, or 
after that date.