Tex. Code of Criminal Procedure § 1 — TX Code / Code cr / Chapter 38 / Section 1
§ 1.
Status: in_force

Sec. 1. In this article, "institute" means the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas located at Sam Houston State University.Sec. 1. This article applies only to a hearing or proceeding in which the court determines that a child younger than 13 years of age would be unavailable to testify in the presence of the defendant about an offense defined by any of the following sections of the Penal Code:

(1) Section 19.02 (Murder);

(2) Section 19.03 (Capital Murder);

(3) Section 19.04 (Manslaughter);

(4) Section 20.04 (Aggravated Kidnapping);

(5) Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child);

(6) Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault);

(7) Section 22.02 (Aggravated Assault);

(8) Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault);

(9) Section 22.04(e) (Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual);

(10) Section 22.04(f) (Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual), if the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly;

(11) Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct);

(12) Section 29.03 (Aggravated Robbery);

(13) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child);

(14) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Disabled Individual);

(15) Section 43.05(a)(2) (Compelling Prostitution); or

(16) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8) (Trafficking of Persons).The Texas Forensic Science Commission is created.Sec. 1. A chain of custody affidavit that complies with this article is admissible in evidence on behalf of the state or the defendant to establish the chain of custody of physical evidence without the necessity of any person in the chain of custody personally appearing in court.Sec. 1. In this article:

(1) "Child" has the meaning assigned by Section 22.011(c), Penal Code.

(2) "Support person" means any person whose presence would contribute to the welfare and well-being of a child.In this article:

(1) "Communication service provider" means a person or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person who transmits information chosen by a customer by electronic means, including:

(A) a telecommunications carrier, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

(B) a provider of information service, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

(C) a provider of interactive computer service, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230); and

(D) an information content provider, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230).

(2) "Journalist" means a person, including a parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person, who for a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes news or information that is disseminated by a news medium or communication service provider and includes:

(A) a person who supervises or assists in gathering, preparing, and disseminating the news or information; or

(B) notwithstanding the foregoing, a person who is or was a journalist, scholar, or researcher employed by an institution of higher education at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information, or a person who at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information:

(i) is earning a significant portion of the person's livelihood by obtaining or preparing information for dissemination by a news medium or communication service provider; or

(ii) was serving as an agent, assistant, employee, or supervisor of a news medium or communication service provider.

(3) "News medium" means a newspaper, magazine or periodical, book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or television station or network, cable, satellite, or other transmission system or carrier or channel, or a channel or programming service for a station, network, system, or carrier, or an audio or audiovisual production company or Internet company or provider, or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of that entity, that disseminates news or information to the public by any means, including:

(A) print;

(B) television;

(C) radio;

(D) photographic;

(E) mechanical;

(F) electronic; and

(G) other means, known or unknown, that are accessible to the public.

(4) "Official proceeding" means any type of administrative, executive, legislative, or judicial proceeding that may be conducted before a public servant.

(5) "Public servant" means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if the person has not yet qualified for office or assumed the person's duties:

(A) an officer, employee, or agent of government;

(B) a juror or grand juror;

(C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy;

(D) an attorney or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or

(E) a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right, although the person is not legally qualified to do so.Sec. 1. In this article, a written statement of an accused means:

(1) a statement made by the accused in his own handwriting; or

(2) a statement made in a language the accused can read or understand that:

(A) is signed by the accused; or

(B) bears the mark of the accused, if the accused is unable to write and the mark is witnessed by a person other than a peace officer.Sec. 1. A certificate of analysis that complies with this article is admissible in evidence on behalf of the state or the defendant to establish the results of a laboratory analysis of physical evidence conducted by or for a law enforcement agency without the necessity of the analyst personally appearing in court.Sec. 1. The court shall order that a defendant who is convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor offense that is punishable by confinement in jail have a thumbprint of the defendant's right thumb rolled legibly on the judgment or the docket sheet in the case. The court shall order a defendant who is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision under Subchapter C, Chapter 42A, for an offense described by this section to have a thumbprint of the defendant's right thumb rolled legibly on the order placing the defendant on deferred adjudication community supervision. If the defendant does not have a right thumb, the defendant must have a thumbprint of the defendant's left thumb rolled legibly on the judgment, order, or docket sheet. The defendant must have a fingerprint of the defendant's index finger rolled legibly on the judgment, order, or docket sheet if the defendant does not have a right thumb or a left thumb. The judgment, order, or docket sheet must contain a statement that describes from which thumb or finger the print was taken, unless a rolled 10-finger print set was taken. A clerk or bailiff of the court or other person qualified to take fingerprints shall take the thumbprint or fingerprint, either by use of the ink-rolled print method or by use of a live-scanning device that prints the thumbprint or fingerprint image on the judgment, order, or docket sheet.Sec. 1. This article applies to a proceeding in the prosecution of an offense under any of the following provisions of the Penal Code, if committed against a child younger than 18 years of age or a person with a disability:

(1) Chapter 21 (Sexual Offenses) or 22 (Assaultive Offenses);

(2) Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct);

(3) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child);

(4) Section 43.05(a)(2) or (3) (Compelling Prostitution);

(5) Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6), (7), or (8) (Trafficking of Persons);

(6) Section 20A.03 (Continuous Trafficking of Persons), if based partly or wholly on conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6), (7), or (8); or

(7) Section 15.01 (Criminal Attempt), if the offense attempted is described by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) of this section.Sec. 1. (a) Subsection (b) applies to a proceeding in the prosecution of a defendant for an offense, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense, under the following provisions of the Penal Code:

(1) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Disabled Individual);

(2) Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child);

(3) Section 21.15 (Invasive Visual Recording);

(4) Section 21.16 (Unlawful Disclosure or Promotion of Intimate Visual Material);

(5) Section 21.165 (Unlawful Production or Distribution of Certain Sexually Explicit Videos);

(6) Section 21.18 (Sexual Coercion);

(7) Section 21.19 (Unlawful Electronic Transmission of Sexually Explicit Visual Material);

(8) Section 25.02 (Prohibited Sexual Conduct);

(9) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child);

(10) Section 20A.02 (Trafficking of Persons);

(11) Section 20A.03 (Continuous Trafficking of Persons);

(12) Section 43.05 (Compelling Prostitution); or

(13) if committed against a child younger than 18 years of age:

(A) Chapter 21 (Sexual Offenses); or

(B) Chapter 22 (Assaultive Offenses).

(b) Notwithstanding Rules 404 and 405, Texas Rules of Evidence, evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts committed by the defendant against the victim of the alleged offense shall be admitted for its bearing on relevant matters, including:

(1) the state of mind of the defendant and the victim; and

(2) the previous and subsequent relationship between the defendant and the victim.

(c) If a court admits evidence under this section and on request by either party, the court shall provide to the jury a limiting instruction regarding the purposes for which the evidence may be used. The court shall provide the limiting instruction:

(1) orally at the time the evidence is admitted; and

(2) in writing on conclusion of the presentation of evidence in the case, at the time written instructions are provided to the jury.