| 1 | 1 | | 88R6450 AJZ-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Leach H.B. No. 4271 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the use of hypnotically induced statements in a |
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| 8 | 8 | | criminal trial. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Article 38.24 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Art. 38.24. STATEMENTS OBTAINED BY INVESTIGATIVE HYPNOSIS. |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) In this article, "investigative hypnosis" means a technique |
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| 14 | 14 | | that uses hypnosis to explore the memory of a witness to enhance the |
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| 15 | 15 | | witness's recall of a legally relevant event, including |
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| 16 | 16 | | descriptions of people, conversations, and the environment. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b) This article applies to all statements made during or |
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| 18 | 18 | | after a hypnotic session by a person who has undergone |
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| 19 | 19 | | investigative hypnosis for the purpose of enhancing the person's |
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| 20 | 20 | | recollection of an event at issue in a criminal investigation or |
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| 21 | 21 | | case, including courtroom testimony regarding those statements and |
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| 22 | 22 | | including statements identifying an accused that are made pursuant |
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| 23 | 23 | | to pretrial identification procedures. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (c) A statement described by Subsection (b) is not |
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| 25 | 25 | | admissible against a defendant in a criminal trial, whether offered |
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| 26 | 26 | | in the guilt or innocence phase or the punishment phase of the |
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| 27 | 27 | | trial. Notwithstanding Article 38.23, this article does not affect |
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| 28 | 28 | | the admissibility of any physical evidence, or the testimony of any |
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| 29 | 29 | | witness identified, that independently corroborates the commission |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the offense. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to the |
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| 32 | 32 | | admissibility of a statement in a criminal proceeding that |
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| 33 | 33 | | commences on or after the effective date of this Act. The |
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| 34 | 34 | | admissibility of a statement in a criminal proceeding that |
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| 35 | 35 | | commences before the effective date of this Act is governed by the |
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| 36 | 36 | | law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and the former |
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| 37 | 37 | | law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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