| Passed by the House March 17, 2003 Yeas 96 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 15, 2003 Yeas 49 ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Cynthia Zehnder, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1427 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/27/2003. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to the admissibility of confessions and admissions in criminal and juvenile offense proceedings; and adding a new section to chapter 10.58 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 10.58 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) In criminal and juvenile offense proceedings where independent
proof of the corpus delicti is absent, and the alleged victim of the
crime is dead or incompetent to testify, a lawfully obtained and
otherwise admissible confession, admission, or other statement of the
defendant shall be admissible into evidence if there is substantial
independent evidence that would tend to establish the trustworthiness
of the confession, admission, or other statement of the defendant.
(2) In determining whether there is substantial independent
evidence that the confession, admission, or other statement of the
defendant is trustworthy, the court shall consider, but is not limited
to:
(a) Whether there is any evidence corroborating or contradicting
the
facts set out in the statement, including the elements of the
offense;
(b) The character of the witness reporting the statement and the
number of witnesses to the statement;
(c) Whether a record of the statement was made and the timing of
the making of the record in relation to the making of the statement;
and/or
(d) The relationship between the witness and the defendant.
(3) Where the court finds that the confession, admission, or other
statement of the defendant is sufficiently trustworthy to be admitted,
the court shall issue a written order setting forth the rationale for
admission.
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the
defendant from arguing to the jury or judge in a bench trial that the
statement is not trustworthy or that the evidence is otherwise
insufficient to convict.