By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1681
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2009; March 20, 2009, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 2, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 2, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1681 By: Hinojosa
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring the corroboration of certain testimony to
support a criminal conviction.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 38.075 to read as follows:
Art. 38.075. CORROBORATION OF CERTAIN TESTIMONY REQUIRED.
(a) A defendant may not be convicted of an offense on the testimony
of a person to whom the defendant made a statement against the
defendant's interest during a time when the person was imprisoned
or confined in the same correctional facility as the defendant
unless the testimony is corroborated by other evidence tending to
connect the defendant with the offense committed. In this
subsection, "correctional facility" has the meaning assigned by
Section 1.07, Penal Code.
(b) Corroboration is not sufficient for the purposes of this
article if the corroboration only shows that the offense was
committed.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to any
case in which a judgment has not been entered before the effective
date of this Act. A case in which a judgment has been entered before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
the judgment was entered, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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