Criminal Procedure - Admission of Out-of-Court Statements - Assault in the Second Degree
Referred Judicial Proceedings (Senate)
Summary
The bill lets a statement that would normally be excluded as hearsay be admitted if the defendant (or a co‑conspirator) made the witness unavailable. It applies only to felony or assault‑in‑the‑second‑degree trials and requires a pre‑trial hearing and strict safeguards. The change is intended to stop defendants from escaping liability by silencing witnesses.
AI-generated summary — may be incomplete or inaccurate. Verify against the official bill text.
Ask about HB 477
3 free questions a day, no accountHearings
- Judiciary — Bill HearingJudiciary · Feb 10, 2026
History
- Referred Judicial Proceedings
- Third Reading Passed
- Second Reading Passed
- Favorable Adopted
- Favorable Report by Judiciary
- Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 p.m.
- First Reading Judiciary
Sponsors
- Embry · sponsor
- Boyce
- Kaufman
- Simmons
- Stinnett
Similar bills in other states
Loading the map of where bills like this one were filed.
Topics
Share
Writing about this bill? Add a live status widget to your site or newsletter. It updates as the bill moves.
Track this bill
Get an email when HB 477 moves: committee action, floor votes, amendments and hearings. Free, no card.
Track HB 477 freeOr ask your AI assistant about HB 477 directly:
Add to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor