Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB229 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R1936 MEW-D
2	2	By: Canales H.B. No. 229
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the electronic recording and admissibility of certain
8	8	custodial 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 Article 2.32 to read as follows:
12	12	Art. 2.32. ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF CUSTODIAL
13	13	INTERROGATIONS. (a) In this article:
14	14	(1) "Law enforcement agency" means a governmental
15	15	agency authorized by law to employ peace officers.
16	16	(2) "Place of detention" means a police station or
17	17	other building that is a place of operation for a law enforcement
18	18	agency, including a municipal police department or county sheriff's
19	19	department, and is owned or operated by the law enforcement agency
20	20	for the purpose of detaining individuals in connection with the
21	21	suspected violation of a penal law. The term does not include a
22	22	courthouse.
23	23	(b) A law enforcement agency of the state or of a
24	24	municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the state
25	25	shall make a complete, contemporaneous, audio or audiovisual
26	26	electronic recording of any custodial interrogation that occurs in
27	27	a place of detention and is of a person suspected of committing or
28	28	charged with the commission of an offense under:
29	29	(1) Section 19.02, Penal Code (murder);
30	30	(2) Section 19.03, Penal Code (capital murder);
31	31	(3) Section 20.03, Penal Code (kidnapping);
32	32	(4) Section 20.04, Penal Code (aggravated
33	33	kidnapping);
34	34	(5) Section 20A.02, Penal Code (trafficking of
35	35	persons);
36	36	(6) Section 20A.03, Penal Code (continuous
37	37	trafficking of persons);
38	38	(7) Section 21.02, Penal Code (continuous sexual abuse
39	39	of young child or children);
40	40	(8) Section 21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a
41	41	child);
42	42	(9) Section 21.12, Penal Code (improper relationship
43	43	between educator and student);
44	44	(10) Section 22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault);
45	45	(11) Section 22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual
46	46	assault); or
47	47	(12) Section 43.25, Penal Code (sexual performance by
48	48	a child).
49	49	(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), an electronic recording
50	50	of a custodial interrogation is complete only if the recording
51	51	begins at or before the time the person being interrogated receives
52	52	a warning described by Section 2(a), Article 38.22, and continues
53	53	until the time the interrogation ceases.
54	54	(d) A recording of a custodial interrogation that complies
55	55	with this article is exempt from public disclosure except as
56	56	provided by Section 552.108, Government Code.
57	57	(e) Evidence from a custodial interrogation conducted by a
58	58	federal law enforcement agency or a law enforcement agency of
59	59	another state is not admissible in a criminal proceeding unless the
60	60	interrogation complied with that agency's custodial interrogation
61	61	procedures.
62	62	SECTION 2. Section 1, Article 38.22, Code of Criminal
63	63	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
64	64	Sec. 1. In this article:
65	65	(1) "Electronic recording" means an audio or
66	66	audiovisual electronic recording of a custodial interrogation that
67	67	begins at or before the time the person being interrogated receives
68	68	a warning described by Section 2(a) and continues until the time the
69	69	interrogation ceases.
70	70	(2) "Written statement"[, a written statement of an
71	71	accused] means:
72	72	(A) [(1)] a statement made by the accused in the
73	73	accused's [his] own handwriting; or
74	74	(B) [(2)] a statement made in a language the
75	75	accused can read or understand that:
76	76	(i) [(A)] is signed by the accused; or
77	77	(ii) [(B)] bears the mark of the accused,
78	78	if the accused is unable to write and the mark is witnessed by a
79	79	person other than a peace officer.
80	80	SECTION 3. Sections 3(a) and (b), Article 38.22, Code of
81	81	Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
82	82	(a) Except as provided by Section 9, an oral, sign language,
83	83	or written statement made as a result of a custodial interrogation
84	84	of a person accused of an offense listed in Article 2.32(b) is not
85	85	admissible against the accused in a criminal proceeding, and an
86	86	[No] oral or sign language statement made as a result of a custodial
87	87	interrogation of a person [of an] accused of any other offense is
88	88	not [made as a result of custodial interrogation shall be]
89	89	admissible against the accused in a criminal proceeding, unless:
90	90	(1) an electronic recording [, which may include
91	91	motion picture, video tape, or other visual recording,] is made of
92	92	the custodial interrogation [statement];
93	93	(2) after receiving [prior to the statement but during
94	94	the recording the accused is given] the warning described by
95	95	Section 2(a), [in Subsection (a) of Section 2 above and] the accused
96	96	knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives any rights set out
97	97	in the warning;
98	98	(3) the recording device was capable of making an
99	99	accurate recording, the operator was competent, and the recording
100	100	is accurate and has not been altered;
101	101	(4) all voices on the recording are identified; and
102	102	(5) not later than the 20th day before the date of the
103	103	proceeding, the attorney representing the defendant is provided
104	104	with a true, complete, and accurate copy of all recordings of the
105	105	defendant made under this article.
106	106	(b) Each [Every] electronic recording of [any statement
107	107	made by an accused during] a custodial interrogation must be
108	108	preserved until:
109	109	(1) [such time as] the defendant's conviction for any
110	110	offense relating to the recording [thereto] is final and[,] all
111	111	direct appeals from the conviction [therefrom] are exhausted;[,] or
112	112	(2) the prosecution of an offense described by
113	113	Subdivision (1) [such offenses] is barred by law.
114	114	SECTION 4. Article 38.22, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
115	115	amended by adding Section 9 to read as follows:
116	116	Sec. 9. An oral, sign language, or written statement of an
117	117	accused made as a result of a custodial interrogation is admissible
118	118	without an electronic recording otherwise required by Section 3(a)
119	119	if the attorney introducing the statement shows good cause for the
120	120	lack of the recording. For purposes of this section, "good cause"
121	121	includes:
122	122	(1) the accused refused to respond to questioning or
123	123	cooperate in a custodial interrogation of which an electronic
124	124	recording was made, provided that:
125	125	(A) a contemporaneous recording of the refusal
126	126	was made; or
127	127	(B) the peace officer or agent of the law
128	128	enforcement agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good
129	129	faith, to record the accused's refusal but the accused was
130	130	unwilling to have the refusal recorded, and the peace officer or
131	131	agent contemporaneously, in writing, documented the refusal;
132	132	(2) the statement was not made exclusively as the
133	133	result of a custodial interrogation, including a statement that was
134	134	made spontaneously by the accused and not in response to a question
135	135	by a peace officer or agent of the law enforcement agency conducting
136	136	the interrogation;
137	137	(3) the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
138	138	agency conducting the interrogation attempted, in good faith, to
139	139	record the interrogation but the recording equipment did not
140	140	function, the officer or agent inadvertently operated the equipment
141	141	incorrectly, or the equipment malfunctioned or stopped operating
142	142	without the knowledge of the officer or agent;
143	143	(4) exigent public safety concerns prevented or
144	144	rendered infeasible the making of an electronic recording of the
145	145	custodial interrogation; or
146	146	(5) the peace officer or agent of the law enforcement
147	147	agency conducting the interrogation reasonably believed at the time
148	148	the interrogation commenced that the accused interrogated was not
149	149	taken into custody for or being interrogated concerning the
150	150	commission of an offense listed in Article 2.32(b).
151	151	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply to the
152	152	use of a statement made as a result of a custodial interrogation
153	153	that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless
154	154	of whether the offense giving rise to that interrogation is
155	155	committed before, on, or after that date.
156	156	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.