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  85R22596 AJZ-D
 
  By: Smithee, Moody, Canales, et al. H.B. No. 34
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to measures to prevent wrongful convictions.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
  SECTION 1.  Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Articles 2.023 and 2.32 to read as follows:
         Art. 2.023.  TRACKING USE OF CERTAIN TESTIMONY. (a) In this
  article:
               (1)  "Attorney representing the state" means a district
  attorney, a criminal district attorney, or a county attorney with
  criminal jurisdiction.
               (2)  "Correctional facility" has the meaning assigned
  by Section 1.07, Penal Code.
         (b)  An attorney representing the state shall track:
               (1)  the use of proffered testimony of a person to whom
  a defendant made a statement against the defendant's interest while
  the person was imprisoned or confined in the same correctional
  facility as the defendant, regardless of whether the testimony is
  presented at trial; and
               (2)  any benefits offered or provided to a person in
  exchange for testimony described by Subdivision (1).
         Art. 2.32.  ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF CUSTODIAL
  INTERROGATIONS. (a) In this article:
               (1)  "Electronic recording" means an audio or
  audiovisual electronic recording that begins at the time the person
  being interrogated enters the area of the place of detention in
  which the interrogation will take place and that continues until
  the time the interrogation ceases.
               (2)  "Place of detention" means a police station or
  other building that is a place of operation for a law enforcement
  agency, including a municipal police department or county sheriff's
  department, and is owned or operated by the law enforcement agency
  for the purpose of detaining individuals in connection with the
  suspected violation of a penal law. The term does not include a
  courthouse.
         (b)  A law enforcement agency shall make an electronic
  recording of any custodial interrogation that is of a person
  suspected of committing or charged with the commission of a felony
  offense and that the law enforcement agency conducts in a place of
  detention.
         (c)  An electronic recording of a custodial interrogation
  that complies with this article is exempt from public disclosure as
  provided by Section 552.108, Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  Article 38.075, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  Evidence of a prior offense committed by a person who
  gives testimony described by Subsection (a) may be admitted for the
  purpose of impeachment if the person received a benefit described
  by Article 39.14(h-1)(2) with respect to the offense, regardless of
  whether the person was convicted of the offense.
         SECTION 3.  Section 3, Article 38.20, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding
  Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (c)  The model policy or any other policy adopted by a law
  enforcement agency under Subsection (a) must:
               (1)  be based on:
                     (A)  credible field, academic, or laboratory
  research on eyewitness memory;
                     (B)  relevant policies, guidelines, and best
  practices designed to reduce erroneous eyewitness identifications
  and to enhance the reliability and objectivity of eyewitness
  identifications; and
                     (C)  other relevant information as appropriate;
  and
               (2)  include [address] the following information
  regarding evidence-based practices [topics]:
                     (A)  procedures for selecting [the selection of]
  photograph and live lineup filler photographs or participants to
  ensure that the photographs or participants:
                           (i)  are consistent in appearance with the
  description of the alleged perpetrator that was provided by a
  witness; and
                           (ii)  do not make the suspect noticeably
  stand out;
                     (B)  instructions given to a witness before
  conducting a photograph or live lineup identification procedure
  that must include a statement that the person who committed the
  offense may or may not be present in the procedure and that the
  investigation will continue regardless of whether the witness
  identifies a person in the procedure;
                     (C)  procedures for documenting and preserving 
  the [documentation and preservation of] results of a photograph or
  live lineup identification procedure, including the documentation
  of witness statements, regardless of the outcome of the procedure;
                     (D)  procedures for administering a photograph or
  live lineup identification procedure to an illiterate person or a
  person with limited English language proficiency;
                     (E)  for a live lineup identification procedure,
  [if practicable,] procedures for assigning an administrator who is
  unaware of which member of the live lineup is the suspect in the
  case [or alternative procedures designed to prevent opportunities
  to influence the witness];
                     (F)  for a photograph identification procedure,
  procedures for assigning an administrator who is capable of
  administering a photograph array in a blind manner or in a manner
  consistent with other proven or supported best practices designed
  to prevent opportunities to influence the witness; and
                     (G)  any other procedures or best practices
  supported by credible research or commonly accepted as a means to
  reduce erroneous eyewitness identifications and to enhance the
  objectivity and reliability of eyewitness identifications.
         (d)  A witness who makes an identification based on a
  photograph or live lineup identification procedure shall be asked
  immediately after the procedure to state, in the witness's own
  words, the witness's level of confidence in making the
  identification.  A law enforcement agency shall document in
  accordance with Subsection (c)(2)(C) any statement made under this
  subsection.
         SECTION 4.  Section 5, Article 38.20, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 5.  (a)  Any evidence or expert testimony presented by
  the state or the defendant on the subject of eyewitness
  identification is admissible only subject to compliance with the
  Texas Rules of Evidence.  Except as provided by Subsection (c),
  evidence [Evidence] of compliance with the model policy or any
  other policy adopted under this article [or with the minimum
  requirements of this article] is not a condition precedent to the
  admissibility of an out-of-court eyewitness identification.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Article 38.23 as that article relates
  to a violation of a state statute and except as provided by
  Subsection (c), a failure to conduct a photograph or live lineup
  identification procedure in substantial compliance with the model
  policy or any other policy adopted under this article [or with the
  minimum requirements of this article] does not bar the admission of
  eyewitness identification testimony in the courts of this state.
         (c)  If a witness makes an in-court identification of the
  accused, the eyewitness identification is admissible into evidence
  against the accused only if the evidence is accompanied by:
               (1)  the details of any prior identification made of
  the accused by the witness, including the manner in which that
  identification procedure was conducted; and
               (2)  evidence showing the witness's confidence level as
  described by the witness at the time of the prior identification.
         SECTION 5.  Section 1, Article 38.22, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1.  In this article:
               (1)  "Electronic recording" has the meaning assigned by
  Article 2.32.
               (2)  "Written [, a written] statement" [of an accused]
  means:
                     (A) [(1)]  a statement made by the accused in the
  accused's [his] own handwriting; or
                     (B) [(2)]  a statement made in a language the
  accused can read or understand that:
                           (i) [(A)]  is signed by the accused; or
                           (ii) [(B)]  bears the mark of the accused,
  if the accused is unable to write and the mark is witnessed by a
  person other than a peace officer.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 3(a) and (b), Article 38.22, Code of
  Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Section 9, no oral, sign language,
  or written statement made as a result of a custodial interrogation
  of a person accused of a felony offense is admissible against the
  accused in a criminal proceeding, and no [No] oral or sign language
  statement made as a result of a custodial interrogation of a person
  [of an] accused of any other offense is [made as a result of
  custodial interrogation shall be] admissible against the accused in
  a criminal proceeding, unless:
               (1)  an electronic recording [, which may include
  motion picture, video tape, or other visual recording,] is made of
  the custodial interrogation [statement];
               (2)  after being [prior to the statement but during the
  recording the accused is] given the warning described by Section
  2(a), [in Subsection (a) of Section 2 above and] the accused
  knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives any rights set out
  in the warning;
               (3)  the recording device was capable of making an
  accurate recording, the operator was competent, and the recording
  is accurate and has not been altered;
               (4)  all voices on the recording are identified; and
               (5)  not later than the 20th day before the date of the
  proceeding, the attorney representing the defendant is provided
  with a true, complete, and accurate copy of all recordings of the
  defendant made under this article.
         (b)  Every electronic recording of [any statement made by an
  accused during] a custodial interrogation of an accused must be
  preserved until such time as the defendant's conviction for any
  offense relating thereto is final, all direct appeals therefrom are
  exhausted, or the prosecution of such offenses is barred by law.
         SECTION 7.  Article 38.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Section 9 to read as follows:
         Sec. 9.  An oral, sign language, or written statement of an
  accused made as a result of a custodial interrogation is admissible
  without an electronic recording otherwise required by Section 3(a)
  if the attorney introducing the statement shows good cause for the
  lack of the recording. For purposes of this section, "good cause"
  includes:
               (1)  the accused refused to respond to questioning or
  cooperate in a custodial interrogation of which an electronic
  recording was made, provided that:
                     (A)  a contemporaneous recording of the refusal
  was made; or
                     (B)  the peace officer or agent of the law
  enforcement agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good
  faith, to record the accused's refusal but the accused was
  unwilling to have the refusal recorded, and the peace officer or
  agent contemporaneously, in writing, documented the refusal;
               (2)  the statement was not made exclusively as the
  result of a custodial interrogation, including a statement that was
  made spontaneously by the accused and not in response to a question
  by a peace officer;
               (3)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
  agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good faith, to
  record the interrogation but the recording equipment did not
  function, the officer or agent inadvertently operated the equipment
  incorrectly, or the equipment malfunctioned or stopped operating
  without the knowledge of the officer or agent;
               (4)  exigent public safety concerns prevented or
  rendered infeasible the making of an electronic recording of the
  custodial interrogation; or
               (5)  the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
  agency conducting the interrogation reasonably believed at the time
  the interrogation began that the accused was not taken into custody
  for or being interrogated concerning the commission of a felony
  offense.
         SECTION 8.  Article 39.14, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (h-1) to read as follows:
         (h-1)  In this subsection, "correctional facility" has the
  meaning assigned by Section 1.07, Penal Code. Notwithstanding any
  other provision of this article, if the state intends to use at a
  defendant's trial testimony of a person to whom the defendant made a
  statement against the defendant's interest while the person was
  imprisoned or confined in the same correctional facility as the
  defendant, the state shall disclose to the defendant:
               (1)  the person's complete criminal history, including
  any charges that were dismissed or reduced as part of a plea
  bargain;
               (2)  any grant, promise, or offer of immunity from
  prosecution, reduction of sentence, or other leniency or special
  treatment, given by the state in exchange for the person's
  testimony;
               (3)  information concerning other criminal cases in
  which the person has testified, or offered to testify, against a
  defendant with whom the person was imprisoned or confined,
  including any grant, promise, or offer as described by Subdivision
  (2) given by the state in exchange for the testimony; and
               (4)  other information in the possession, custody, or
  control of the state that is relevant to the person's credibility.
         SECTION 9.  Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:
         (n)  As part of the minimum curriculum requirements, the
  commission shall establish a statewide comprehensive education and
  training program on eyewitness identification, including the
  variables that affect a witness's vision and memory, practices for
  minimizing contamination, and effective eyewitness identification
  protocols.
  SECTION 10.  STUDY REGARDING USE OF DRUG FIELD TEST KITS.
  (a) The Texas Forensic Science Commission shall conduct a study
  regarding the use of drug field test kits by law enforcement
  agencies in this state. The commission shall:
               (1)  evaluate the quality, accuracy, and reliability of
  drug field test kits;
               (2)  identify any common problems with drug field test
  kits;
               (3)  evaluate the availability and adequacy of training
  for law enforcement officers regarding the use of drug field test
  kits and the interpretation of the test results; and
               (4)  develop legislative recommendations regarding the
  use of drug field test kits by law enforcement agencies and
  regarding related training for law enforcement officers.
         (b)  Not later than December 1, 2018, the Texas Forensic
  Science Commission shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant
  governor, and each member of the legislature a written report that
  summarizes the results of the study conducted under this section
  and includes any legislative recommendations.
         SECTION 11.  CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION STUDY. (a) The Texas
  Forensic Science Commission shall conduct a study regarding the
  manner in which crime scene investigations are conducted in this
  state. The commission shall:
               (1)  evaluate the standard procedures used in
  processing a crime scene and evaluate the quality of crime scene
  investigations;
               (2)  evaluate the availability and adequacy of the
  training or continuing education provided to crime scene
  investigators; and
               (3)  develop legislative recommendations regarding
  improvements to crime scene investigation procedures and training.
         (b)  Not later than December 1, 2018, the Texas Forensic
  Science Commission shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant
  governor, and each member of the legislature a written report that
  summarizes the results of the study conducted under this section
  and includes any legislative recommendations.
         SECTION 12.  Article 2.32 and Section 9, Article 38.22, Code
  of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, and Sections 1 and 3,
  Article 38.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act,
  apply to the use of a statement made as a result of a custodial
  interrogation that occurs on or after the effective date of this
  Act, regardless of whether the criminal offense giving rise to that
  interrogation is committed before, on, or after the effective date
  of this Act.
         SECTION 13.  Article 38.075(c), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  as added by this Act, applies to the admissibility of evidence in a
  criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
  of this Act. The admissibility of evidence in a criminal proceeding
  that commences before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 14.  (a)  Section 3(d), Article 38.20, Code of
  Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to a
  photograph or live lineup identification procedure conducted on or
  after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
  offense to which the procedure is related was committed before, on,
  or after the effective date of this Act.
         (b)  Section 5, Article 38.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to the trial of an offense with
  respect to which a prior identification of the accused occurred on
  or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
  offense that is the subject of the trial was committed before, on,
  or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 15.  Article 39.14(h-1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  as added by this Act, applies to the prosecution of an offense
  committed on or after the effective date of this Act. The
  prosecution of 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 is committed
  before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
  occurs before the effective date.
         SECTION 16.  Not later than January 1, 2018, the Texas
  Commission on Law Enforcement shall establish the eyewitness
  identification education and training program as required by
  Section 1701.253(n), Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 17.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.