|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to photograph and live lineup identification procedures in |
|
criminal cases. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
amended by adding Article 38.20 to read as follows: |
|
Art. 38.20. PHOTOGRAPH AND LIVE LINEUP IDENTIFICATION |
|
PROCEDURES |
|
Sec. 1. In this article, "institute" means the Bill |
|
Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas located at |
|
Sam Houston State University. |
|
Sec. 2. This article applies only to a law enforcement |
|
agency of this state or of a county, municipality, or other |
|
political subdivision of this state that employs peace officers who |
|
conduct photograph or live lineup identification procedures in the |
|
routine performance of the officers' official duties. |
|
Sec. 3. (a) Each law enforcement agency shall adopt, |
|
implement, and as necessary amend a detailed written policy |
|
regarding the administration of photograph and live lineup |
|
identification procedures in accordance with this article. A law |
|
enforcement agency may adopt: |
|
(1) the model policy adopted under Subsection (b); or |
|
(2) the agency's own policy that, at a minimum, |
|
conforms to the requirements of Subsection (c). |
|
(b) The institute, in consultation with large, medium, and |
|
small law enforcement agencies and with law enforcement |
|
associations, scientific experts in eyewitness memory research, |
|
and appropriate organizations engaged in the development of law |
|
enforcement policy, shall develop, adopt, and disseminate to all |
|
law enforcement agencies in this state a model policy and |
|
associated training materials regarding the administration of |
|
photograph and live lineup identification procedures. The |
|
institute shall provide for a period of public comment before |
|
adopting the policy and materials. |
|
(c) The model policy or any other policy adopted by a law |
|
enforcement agency under Subsection (a) must: |
|
(1) be based on: |
|
(A) credible field, academic, or laboratory |
|
research on eyewitness memory; |
|
(B) relevant policies, guidelines, and best |
|
practices designed to reduce erroneous eyewitness identifications |
|
and to enhance the reliability and objectivity of eyewitness |
|
identifications; and |
|
(C) other relevant information as appropriate; |
|
and |
|
(2) address the following topics: |
|
(A) the selection of photograph and live lineup |
|
filler photographs or participants; |
|
(B) instructions given to a witness before |
|
conducting a photograph or live lineup identification procedure; |
|
(C) the documentation and preservation of |
|
results of a photograph or live lineup identification procedure, |
|
including the documentation of witness statements, regardless of |
|
the outcome of the procedure; |
|
(D) procedures for administering a photograph or |
|
live lineup identification procedure to an illiterate person or a |
|
person with limited English language proficiency; |
|
(E) for a live lineup identification procedure, |
|
if practicable, procedures for assigning an administrator who is |
|
unaware of which member of the live lineup is the suspect in the |
|
case or alternative procedures designed to prevent opportunities to |
|
influence the witness; |
|
(F) for a photograph identification procedure, |
|
procedures for assigning an administrator who is capable of |
|
administering a photograph array in a blind manner or in a manner |
|
consistent with other proven or supported best practices designed |
|
to prevent opportunities to influence the witness; and |
|
(G) any other procedures or best practices |
|
supported by credible research or commonly accepted as a means to |
|
reduce erroneous eyewitness identifications and to enhance the |
|
objectivity and reliability of eyewitness identifications. |
|
Sec. 4. (a) Not later than December 31 of each |
|
odd-numbered year, the institute shall review the model policy and |
|
training materials adopted under this article and shall modify the |
|
policy and materials as appropriate. |
|
(b) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year, |
|
each law enforcement agency shall review its policy adopted under |
|
this article and shall modify that policy as appropriate. |
|
Sec. 5. (a) Any evidence or expert testimony presented by |
|
the state or the defendant on the subject of eyewitness |
|
identification is admissible only subject to compliance with the |
|
Texas Rules of Evidence. Evidence of compliance with the model |
|
policy or any other policy adopted under this article or with the |
|
minimum requirements of this article is not a condition precedent |
|
to the admissibility of an out-of-court eyewitness identification. |
|
(b) Notwithstanding Article 38.23 as that article relates |
|
to a violation of a state statute, a failure to conduct a photograph |
|
or live lineup identification procedure in substantial compliance |
|
with the model policy or any other policy adopted under this article |
|
or with the minimum requirements of this article does not bar the |
|
admission of eyewitness identification testimony in the courts of |
|
this state. |
|
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than December 31, 2011, the Bill |
|
Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas shall |
|
develop, adopt, and disseminate the model policy and associated |
|
training materials required under Article 38.20, Code of Criminal |
|
Procedure, as added by this Act. |
|
(b) Not later than September 1, 2012, each law enforcement |
|
agency to which Article 38.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added |
|
by this Act, applies shall adopt a policy as required by that |
|
article. |
|
(c) The change in law made by Section 5, Article 38.20, Code |
|
of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to a |
|
photograph or live lineup identification procedure conducted on or |
|
after September 1, 2012, regardless of whether the offense to which |
|
the procedure is related occurred before, on, or after September 1, |
|
2012. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 215 was passed by the House on March |
|
31, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not |
|
voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 215 was passed by the Senate on May |
|
18, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: _____________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
_____________________ |
|
Governor |