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.