Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB541 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R3268 MEW-D
2	2	By: Canales H.B. No. 541
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the electronic recording of certain custodial
8	8	interrogations.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11	11	amended by adding Articles 2.32 and 2.33 to read as follows:
12	12	Art. 2.32. ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF CUSTODIAL
13	13	INTERROGATIONS. (a) In this article:
14	14	(1) "Custodial interrogation" means any investigative
15	15	questioning, other than routine questions associated with booking,
16	16	by a peace officer during which:
17	17	(A) a reasonable person in the position of the
18	18	person being interrogated would consider himself or herself to be
19	19	in custody; and
20	20	(B) a question is asked that is reasonably likely
21	21	to elicit an incriminating response.
22	22	(2) "Electronic recording" means an audio or
23	23	audiovisual electronic recording of a custodial interrogation that
24	24	begins at or before the time the person being interrogated receives
25	25	a warning described by Section 2(a), Article 38.22, and continues
26	26	until the time the interrogation ceases.
27	27	(3) "Place of detention" means a police station or
28	28	other building that is a place of operation for a law enforcement
29	29	agency, including a municipal police department or county sheriff's
30	30	department, and is owned or operated by the law enforcement agency
31	31	for the purpose of detaining individuals in connection with the
32	32	suspected violation of a penal law. The term does not include a
33	33	courthouse.
34	34	(b) A law enforcement agency qualified under Article 2.33 to
35	35	conduct a custodial interrogation of the offense shall make an
36	36	electronic recording of any custodial interrogation that occurs in
37	37	a place of detention and is of a person suspected of committing or
38	38	charged with the commission of an offense under:
39	39	(1) Section 19.02, Penal Code (murder);
40	40	(2) Section 19.03, Penal Code (capital murder);
41	41	(3) Section 20.03, Penal Code (kidnapping);
42	42	(4) Section 20.04, Penal Code (aggravated
43	43	kidnapping);
44	44	(5) Section 20A.02, Penal Code (trafficking of
45	45	persons);
46	46	(6) Section 20A.03, Penal Code (continuous
47	47	trafficking of persons);
48	48	(7) Section 21.02, Penal Code (continuous sexual abuse
49	49	of young child or children);
50	50	(8) Section 21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a
51	51	child);
52	52	(9) Section 21.12, Penal Code (improper relationship
53	53	between educator and student);
54	54	(10) Section 22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault);
55	55	(11) Section 22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual
56	56	assault); or
57	57	(12) Section 43.25, Penal Code (sexual performance by
58	58	a child).
59	59	(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), an electronic recording
60	60	of a custodial interrogation is complete only if the recording
61	61	begins at or before the time the person being interrogated receives
62	62	a warning described by Section 2(a), Article 38.22, and continues
63	63	until the time the interrogation ceases.
64	64	(d) A recording of a custodial interrogation that complies
65	65	with this article is exempt from public disclosure except as
66	66	provided by Section 552.108, Government Code.
67	67	(e) A law enforcement agency otherwise required to make an
68	68	electronic recording of a custodial interrogation under this
69	69	article is excused from the duty to make the electronic recording if
70	70	the law enforcement agency has good cause. For purposes of this
71	71	subsection, "good cause" includes:
72	72	(1) the accused refused to respond to questioning or
73	73	cooperate in a custodial interrogation of which an electronic
74	74	recording was made, provided that:
75	75	(A) a contemporaneous recording of the refusal
76	76	was made; or
77	77	(B) the peace officer or agent of the law
78	78	enforcement agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good
79	79	faith, to record the accused's refusal but the accused was
80	80	unwilling to have the refusal recorded, and the peace officer or
81	81	agent contemporaneously, in writing, documented the refusal;
82	82	(2) the statement was not made exclusively as the
83	83	result of a custodial interrogation, including a statement that was
84	84	made spontaneously by the accused and not in response to a question
85	85	by a peace officer;
86	86	(3) the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
87	87	agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good faith, to
88	88	record the interrogation but the recording equipment did not
89	89	function, the officer or agent inadvertently operated the equipment
90	90	incorrectly, or the equipment malfunctioned or stopped operating
91	91	without the knowledge of the officer or agent;
92	92	(4) exigent public safety concerns prevented or
93	93	rendered infeasible the making of an electronic recording of the
94	94	custodial interrogation; or
95	95	(5) the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
96	96	agency conducting the interrogation reasonably believed at the time
97	97	the interrogation commenced that the accused interrogated was not
98	98	taken into custody for or being interrogated concerning the
99	99	commission of an offense listed in Subsection (b).
100	100	Art. 2.33. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES QUALIFIED TO CONDUCT
101	101	CERTAIN CUSTODIAL INTERROGATIONS. Only a law enforcement agency
102	102	that employs peace officers described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3),
103	103	(4), (5), (6), (7), (8), or (30), Article 2.12, is qualified to
104	104	conduct a custodial interrogation of an individual suspected of
105	105	committing an offense listed in Article 2.32(b).
106	106	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.