HB 3420

Abstract

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression, whether original or derivative, may not be received into evidence against that defendant in a criminal proceeding unless the evidence is determined by the court to be relevant and admissible, after an offer of proof by the proponent of the evidence outside the hearing of the jury, or the hearing as the court may require, and an on-the-record statement by the court of the findings of fact essential to its determination. Provides that in order to overcome the presumption of inadmissibility of evidence of defendant's creative or artistic expression, the proffering party must affirmatively prove by clear and convincing evidence: (1) literal, rather than figurative or fictional, meaning and, where the work is derivative, that the defendant intended to adopt the literal meaning of the work as the defendant's own thought or statement; (2) a strong factual nexus indicating that the creative or artistic expression refers to the specific facts of the crime alleged; (3) relevance to an issue of fact that is disputed; and (4) distinct probative value not provided by other admissible evidence. Provides that if the court admits creative or artistic expression as criminal evidence, the court has a duty to apply careful redactions, provide limiting instructions, and consider the least prejudicial means of presenting the creative or artistic expression to the fact finder.