HBA-AMW H.B. 553 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 553
By: Mowery
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/24/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1995, a man and his wife joined a traveling carnival while an
investigation in Texas was pending into allegations that the man had
sexually abused his two daughters.  As the carnival prepared to reenter the
United States from Canada, a special agent of the United States Customs
Service ran a routine check on the suspect and found a Texas arrest warrant
for the suspect.  When the suspect crossed the border into Montana, the
agent detained the suspect and read him his Miranda rights.  Three weeks
later, the agent compiled a report in which he recorded his recollections
of the suspect's statements.  No other record of the suspect's statement
exists.  Under current Texas law, one of the requirements for admissibility
of a statement of an accused made as a result of custodial interrogation
(statement) is that the statement is electronically recorded.  Current law
also requires strict compliance with all requirements for the admissibility
of a statement.  Although the statement was admissible under Montana law
and the Texas trial court ruled the statement admissible, the Court of
Criminal Appeals of Texas ruled that the statement was inadmissable because
it did not comply with Texas law and remanded the case.  House Bill 553
provides that a statement is admissible in a criminal proceeding in Texas
if the statement was obtained in another state and was obtained in
compliance with the laws of that state or the statement was obtained by a
federal law enforcement officer in Texas or another state and was obtained
in compliance with the laws of the United States. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 553 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide that a
written, oral, or sign language statement of an accused made as a result of
a custodial interrogation is admissible against the accused in a criminal
proceeding in Texas if the statement was obtained in another state and was
obtained in compliance with the laws of that state or the statement was
obtained by a federal law enforcement officer in Texas or another state and
was obtained in compliance with the laws of the United States. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.