By: Herrero (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 3724
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2015;
May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the consideration of certain scientific evidence
constituting the basis for an application for a writ of habeas
corpus.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 11.073(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) In making a finding as to whether relevant scientific
evidence was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable
diligence on or before a specific date, the court shall consider
whether the field of scientific knowledge, a testifying expert's
scientific knowledge, or a scientific method on which the relevant
scientific evidence is based has changed since:
(1) the applicable trial date or dates, for a
determination made with respect to an original application; or
(2) the date on which the original application or a
previously considered application, as applicable, was filed, for a
determination made with respect to a subsequent application.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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