80R11677 GWK-D
 
  By: Hochberg, et al. H.B. No. 681
 
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 681:
 
  By:  Pena C.S.H.B. No. 681
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to postconviction forensic testing.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 3, Article 11.07, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding
Subsection (e) to read as follows:
       (d)  If the convicting court decides that there are
controverted, previously unresolved facts which are material to the
legality of the applicant's confinement, it shall enter an order
within 20 days of the expiration of the time allowed for the state
to reply, designating the issues of fact to be resolved. To resolve
those issues the court may order affidavits, depositions,
interrogatories, additional forensic testing, and hearings, as
well as using personal recollection. The state shall pay the cost of
additional forensic testing ordered under this subsection, except
that the applicant shall pay the cost of the testing if the
applicant retains counsel for purposes of filing an application
under this article.  The [Also, the] convicting court may appoint an
attorney or a magistrate to hold a hearing and make findings of
fact. An attorney so appointed shall be compensated as provided in
Article 26.05 of this code. It shall be the duty of the reporter who
is designated to transcribe a hearing held pursuant to this article
to prepare a transcript within 15 days of its conclusion. After the
convicting court makes findings of fact or approves the findings of
the person designated to make them, the clerk of the convicting
court shall immediately transmit to the Court of Criminal Appeals,
under one cover, the application, any answers filed, any motions
filed, transcripts of all depositions and hearings, any affidavits,
and any other matters such as official records used by the court in
resolving issues of fact.
       (e)  For the purposes of Subsection (d), "additional
forensic testing" does not include forensic DNA testing as provided
for in Chapter 64.
       SECTION 2.  Articles 64.03(c) and (d), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
       (c)  If the convicting court finds in the affirmative the
issues listed in Subsection (a)(1) and the convicted person meets
the requirements of Subsection (a)(2), the court shall order that
the requested forensic DNA testing be conducted. The court may
order the test to be conducted by the Department of Public Safety,
by a laboratory operating under a contract with the department, or,
on agreement of the parties or for good cause shown, by another
laboratory.
       (d)  If the convicting court orders that the forensic DNA
testing be conducted by a laboratory other than a Department of
Public Safety laboratory or a laboratory under contract with the
department, the State of Texas is not liable for the cost of testing
unless good cause for payment of that cost has been shown. If the
court orders that the testing be conducted by a laboratory
described by this subsection, the court shall include in the order
requirements that:
             (1)  the DNA testing be conducted under reasonable
conditions designed to protect the integrity of the evidence and
the testing process;
             (2)  the DNA testing employ a scientific method
sufficiently reliable and relevant to be admissible under Rule 702,
Texas Rules of Evidence; and
             (3)  on completion of the DNA testing, the results of
the testing and all data related to the testing required for an
evaluation of the test results be immediately filed with the court
and copies of the results and data be served on the convicted person
and the attorney representing the state.
       SECTION 3.  (a) Section 3(d), Article 11.07, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to an
application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the
effective date of this Act.  An application filed before the
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
       (b)  Article 64.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a motion for forensic DNA testing filed on
or after the effective date of this Act. A motion filed before the
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
motion was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
       SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.