82R9066 MAW-F

By: Woolley H.B. No. 1856

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of tampering with a witness.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 36.05, Penal Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsections (c-1), (e), and (f) to read as follows:

(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to influence the witness or prospective witness, the person coerces, [he] offers any benefit to, confers[,] or agrees to confer any benefit on, or engages in any other conduct reasonably designed to cause [a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding or coerces] a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding:

(1) to testify falsely;

(2) to withhold any testimony, information, document, or thing;

(3) to elude legal process summoning the witness or prospective witness [him] to testify or supply evidence;

(4) to be absent [himself] from an official proceeding to which the witness or prospective witness [he] has been legally summoned; or

(5) to abstain from, discontinue, or delay the prosecution of another.

(b) A witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding commits an offense if the actor [he] knowingly solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit on the representation or understanding that the actor [he] will do any of the things specified in Subsection (a).

(c-1) For purposes of this section:

(1) an official proceeding is not required to be pending at the time of the offense; and

(2) the testimony, information, document, or thing that is or could be withheld is not required to be admissible in evidence or free from a claim of privilege.

(d) An offense under this section is a [state jail] felony of the third degree, except that if the official proceeding is part of the prosecution of a criminal case, an offense under this section is the same category of offense as the most serious offense charged in that criminal case.

(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if the most serious offense charged is a capital felony, an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.

(f) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.