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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to requiring the corroboration of certain testimony to |
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support a criminal conviction. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended by adding Article 38.075 to read as follows: |
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Art. 38.075. CORROBORATION OF CERTAIN TESTIMONY REQUIRED. |
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(a) A defendant may not be convicted of an offense on the testimony |
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of a person to whom the defendant made a statement against the |
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defendant's interest during a time when the person was imprisoned |
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or confined in the same correctional facility as the defendant |
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unless the testimony is corroborated by other evidence tending to |
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connect the defendant with the offense committed. In this |
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subsection, "correctional facility" has the meaning assigned by |
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Section 1.07, Penal Code. |
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(b) Corroboration is not sufficient for the purposes of this |
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article if the corroboration only shows that the offense was |
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committed. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to any |
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case in which a judgment has not been entered before the effective |
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date of this Act. A case in which a judgment has been entered before |
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the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when |
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the judgment was entered, and the former law is continued in effect |
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for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |