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.