Bill Text: TX HB821 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the punishment for the offense of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-18 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB821 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB821-Introduced.html

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83R781 GCB-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 821

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for the offense of tampering with or
fabricating physical evidence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.09, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 37.09. TAMPERING WITH OR FABRICATING PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE. (a) A person commits an offense if, knowing that an
investigation or official proceeding is pending or in progress, the
person [he]:
(1) alters, destroys, or conceals any record,
document, or thing with intent to impair its verity, legibility, or
availability as evidence in the investigation or official
proceeding; or
(2) makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or
thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the
course or outcome of the investigation or official proceeding.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) knowing that an offense has been committed,
alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
evidence in any subsequent investigation of, or official proceeding
related to, the offense; or
(2) observes a human corpse under circumstances in
which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been
committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement
agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse,
and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a
law enforcement agency.
(c) This section shall not apply if the record, document, or
thing concealed is privileged or is the work product of the parties
to the investigation or official proceeding.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) or
(b)(1) that the record, document, or thing was visual material
prohibited under Section 43.261 that was destroyed as described by
Subsection (f)(3) of that section.
(e) Subject to Subsection (g), an [(c) An] offense under
Subsection (a) or (b)(1) [Subsection (d)(1)] is a felony of the
third degree, unless the thing altered, destroyed, or concealed is
a human corpse, in which case the offense is a felony of the second
degree.
(f) An offense under Subsection (b)(2) [(d)(2)] is a Class A
misdemeanor.
(g) An offense under Subsection (a) or (b)(1) is the same
category of offense as the most serious offense charged in the case
if:
(1) the investigation or official proceeding
described by Subsection (a) or (b)(1) is part of the prosecution of
a criminal case against the defendant; and
(2) the most serious offense charged is punishable as
a lesser category of offense than the applicable punishment
otherwise prescribed by Subsection (e).
(h) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
(i) [(c-1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection
(a) or (d)(1) that the record, document, or thing was visual
material prohibited under Section 43.261 that was destroyed as
described by Subsection (f)(3)(B) of that section.
[(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
[(1) knowing that an offense has been committed,
alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with
intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as
evidence in any subsequent investigation of or official proceeding
related to the offense; or
[(2) observes a human corpse under circumstances in
which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been
committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement
agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse,
and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a
law enforcement agency.
[(e)] In this section, "human corpse" has the meaning
assigned by Section 42.08.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.