The 88th Texas Legislature passed a bill that makes hypnosis-induced statements from being introduced as evidence in criminal trials.
Senate Bill 338 took effect on Sept. 1, 2023.
The bill defines investigative hypnosis as a law enforcement technique using hypnosis to enhance a witness’s recall of an event, including descriptions of people, conversations, and the environment.
This is the second session in a row that the legislature passed a bill that would negate hypnosis-induced testimony.
Gov. Greg Abbot vetoed the 87th Legislature’s bill on the grounds that it was too broad.
“The bill would grant lifetime immunity for everyone who undergoes this type of hypnosis from having any subsequent statements used in a criminal trial,” Abbott said in his 2021 veto statement.
SB 338, the bill that has been passed into law, specifies that hypnosis-induced statements would only be inadmissible as evidence in the case at hand.
In 1987, the legislature charged the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement with implementing forensic hypnosis training and testing for law enforcement, said Rep. Gina Hinojosa in the bill’s statement of intent.