Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 38.24 – Statements Obtained by Investigative Hypnosis
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(a) In this article, “investigative hypnosis” means a law enforcement technique that uses hypnosis to explore the memory of a witness to enhance the witness’s recall of a legally relevant event, including descriptions of people, conversations, and the environment.
(b) This article applies to all statements made during or after a hypnotic session by a person who has undergone investigative hypnosis performed by a law enforcement agency for the purpose of enhancing the person’s recollection of an event at issue in a criminal investigation or case, including courtroom testimony regarding those statements and including statements identifying an accused that are made pursuant to pretrial identification procedures.
Terms Used In Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 38.24
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(c) A statement described by Subsection (b) is not admissible against a defendant in a criminal trial, whether offered in the guilt or innocence phase or the punishment phase of the trial, if the hypnotic session giving rise to the statement was performed by a law enforcement agency to investigate the offense that is the subject of the trial. Notwithstanding Article 38.23, this article does not affect the admissibility of any physical evidence, or the testimony of any witness identified, that independently corroborates the commission of the offense.