093_HB2526eng

 
HB2526 Engrossed                     LRB093 10351 RLC 10605 b

 1        AN ACT concerning criminal law.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The  Code  of  Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
 5    amended by changing Section 115-10.2 as follows:

 6        (725 ILCS 5/115-10.2)
 7        Sec. 115-10.2.  Admissibility of  prior  statements  when
 8    witness refused to testify despite a court order to testify.
 9        (a)  A  statement  not  specifically covered by any other
10    hearsay  exception  but  having   equivalent   circumstantial
11    guarantees of trustworthiness, is not excluded by the hearsay
12    rule if the declarant is unavailable as defined in subsection
13    (c) and if the court determines that:
14             (1)  the  statement  is  offered  as  evidence  of a
15        material fact; and
16             (2)  the statement is more probative  on  the  point
17        for which it is offered than any other evidence which the
18        proponent can procure through reasonable efforts; and
19             (3)  the  general  purposes  of this Section and the
20        interests of justice will best be served by admission  of
21        the statement into evidence.
22        (b)  A statement may not be admitted under this exception
23    unless  the  proponent of it makes known to the adverse party
24    sufficiently in advance of the trial or  hearing  to  provide
25    the  adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet
26    it, the proponent's intention to offer the statement, and the
27    particulars of the statement, including the name and  address
28    of the declarant.
29        (c)  Unavailability  as  a witness includes circumstances
30    in which the declarant:
31             (1)  is exempted by  ruling  of  the  court  on  the
 
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 1        ground   of  privilege  from  testifying  concerning  the
 2        subject matter of the declarant's statement; or
 3             (2)  persists in refusing to testify concerning  the
 4        subject  matter  of  the declarant's statement despite an
 5        order of the court to do so; or
 6             (3)  testifies to a lack of memory  of  the  subject
 7        matter of the declarant's statement; or
 8             (4)  is  unable  to  be present or to testify at the
 9        hearing because of health or then  existing  physical  or
10        mental illness or infirmity; or
11             (5)  is absent from the hearing and the proponent of
12        the  statement has been unable to procure the declarant's
13        attendance by process or other reasonable means; or
14             (6)  is a crime victim as defined in  Section  3  of
15        the  Rights  of  Crime  Victims and Witnesses Act and the
16        failure of the declarant to  testify  is  caused  by  the
17        defendant's  intimidation  of the declarant as defined in
18        Section 12-6 of the Criminal Code of 1961. Unavailability
19        as a witness is limited to the  situation  in  which  the
20        declarant  persists in refusing to testify concerning the
21        subject matter of the declarant's  statement  despite  an
22        order of the court to do so.
23        (d)  A  declarant  is  not  unavailable  as  a witness if
24    exemption, refusal, claim or lack  of  memory,  inability  or
25    absence  is  due  to  the  procurement  or  wrongdoing of the
26    proponent of  a  statement  for  purpose  of  preventing  the
27    witness from attending or testifying.
28        (e)  Nothing   in  this  Section  shall  render  a  prior
29    statement inadmissible for purposes  of  impeachment  because
30    the statement was not recorded or otherwise fails to meet the
31    criteria set forth in this Section.
32    (Source: P.A. 89-689, eff. 12-31-96.)

33        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 
HB2526 Engrossed            -3-      LRB093 10351 RLC 10605 b
 1    becoming law.