SLS 19RS-151 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 146
BY SENATORS MORRELL, BISHOP AND CARTER AND REPRESENTATIVES
JIMMY HARRIS, JAMES AND LEGER
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. Prohibits the incarceration of victims of domestic violence and
sex offenses who refuse to testify against their abusers. (gov sig)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 15:257, relative to compulsory process; to prohibit the
3 prosecution from arresting and incarcerating victims of domestic violence and sexual
4 assault who refuse to testify against their abusers; and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 15:257 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 ยง257. Placing material witness under bond; exception for victims
8 Whenever A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this Section,
9 whenever it shall appear, upon motion of the district attorney or upon motion of a
10 defendant supported by his affidavit, that the testimony of any witness is essential
11 to the prosecution or the defense, as the case may be, and it is shown that it may
12 become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena, a judge, as
13 defined in Article 931 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, shall issue a warrant for
14 the arrest of the witness. The witness shall be arrested and held in the parish jail, or
15 such other suitable place as shall be designated by the court, until he gives an
16 appearance bond as provided for defendants when admitted to bail, or until his
17 testimony shall have been given in the cause or dispensed with.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 146
SLS 19RS-151 ORIGINAL
1 B. A witness who is the victim of any offense defined as a sex offense
2 under R.S. 15:541, or who is the victim of an offense committed under R.S.
3 14:34.9 (battery of a dating partner), R.S. 14:35.3 (domestic abuse battery), or
4 R.S. 14:37.7 (domestic abuse aggravated assault), shall not be subject to the
5 provisions of Subsection A of this Section upon motion of the district attorney,
6 nor otherwise subject to arrest or imprisonment, for the purpose of securing the
7 witness's testimony in the prosecution of any of those offenses.
8 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
9 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
10 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
11 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
12 effective on the day following such approval.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Alden A. Clement Jr.
DIGEST
SB 146 Original 2019 Regular Session Morrell
Present law provides that if the testimony of a witness is essential to the prosecution or the
defense, and it may become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena,
then upon motion of the district attorney or a defendant, a judge is to issue a warrant for the
arrest of the witness. Present law further provides that the witness is to be arrested and held
in the parish jail or other suitable place as designated by the court, until he gives an
appearance bond as provided for defendants admitted to bail, or until his testimony has been
given or dispensed with.
Proposed law provides that present law does not apply for the purpose of securing the
witness's testimony in the prosecution of any present law offense defined as a sex offense
under present law, or the present law crimes of battery of a dating partner, domestic abuse
battery, or domestic abuse aggravated assault, when the witness is also the victim of any of
those offenses.
Proposed law otherwise retains present law.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Amends R.S. 15:257)
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.