By: Ellis S.B. No. 487
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to postconviction forensic DNA analysis.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 64.01(a-1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a-1) A convicted person may submit to the convicting court
a motion for forensic DNA testing of evidence that there is a
reasonable likelihood of containing biological material. The
motion must be accompanied by an affidavit, sworn to by the
convicted person, containing statements of fact in support of the
motion.
SECTION 2. Article 64.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a) A convicting court may order forensic DNA testing under
this chapter only if:
(1) the court finds that:
(A) the evidence:
(i) still exists and is in a condition making DNA testing
possible, and that there is a reasonable likelihood that the
evidence contains biological material suitable for DNA testing; and
(ii) has been subjected to a chain of custody sufficient to
establish that it has not been substituted, tampered with,
replaced, or altered in any material respect;
(B) identity was or is an issue in the case; and
(2) the convicted person establishes by a preponderance of
the evidence that:
(A) the person would not have been convicted if exculpatory
results had been obtained through DNA testing; and
(B) the request for the proposed DNA testing is not made to
unreasonably delay the execution of sentence or administration of
justice.
(a-1) In this section, the term "exculpatory results" may
include, but is not limited to, DNA test results that indicate a
match, pursuant to a comparison procedure such as that required
under Article 64.035, between an unidentified DNA profile on the
evidence tested and another individual's DNA profile contained in a
DNA database described by that article.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
motion for forensic DNA testing filed on or after the effective date
of this Act. A motion for forensic DNA testing filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the motion was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.