| |
| |
|
|
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 adding |
|
|
Subsections (a-1), (c-1), and (e-1) and amending Subsections (d) |
|
|
and (e) to read as follows: |
|
|
(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person |
|
|
intentionally or knowingly: |
|
|
(1) solicits or directs a witness or prospective |
|
|
witness in an official proceeding: |
|
|
(A) to testify falsely; |
|
|
(B) to withhold any testimony, information, |
|
|
document, or thing; |
|
|
(C) to elude legal process summoning the witness |
|
|
or prospective witness to testify or supply evidence; or |
|
|
(D) to avoid attending an official proceeding to |
|
|
which the witness or prospective witness has been legally summoned; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(2) assists or attempts to assist a witness or |
|
|
prospective witness in performing an activity listed in Subdivision |
|
|
(1). |
|
|
(c-1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection |
|
|
(a-1)(1)(B) or (a-1)(2) with respect to a withholding of testimony, |
|
|
information, a document, or a thing that the withholding occurred |
|
|
or would have occurred through the exercise of a legal right or |
|
|
privilege the actor reasonably believed the witness or prospective |
|
|
witness was entitled to assert in the official proceeding. |
|
|
(d) Subject to Subsections (e) and (e-1), an [An] offense |
|
|
under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
(e) Subject to Subsection (e-1), if[, 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, except that if |
|
|
the most serious offense charged is a capital felony, the offense is |
|
|
a felony of the first degree. |
|
|
(e-1) An offense under Subsection (a) or (a-1) is a felony |
|
|
of the second degree if the actor is a public servant acting or |
|
|
purporting to act in an official capacity or an attorney |
|
|
representing a party to the official proceeding, except that the |
|
|
offense is a felony of the first degree if the official proceeding |
|
|
is part of the prosecution of a criminal case in which the most |
|
|
serious offense charged is punishable as a felony of the first |
|
|
degree or a capital felony [(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]. |
|
|
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, 2013. |