A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to create enhanced protections for victims and witnesses by adding an exception to the hearsay rule that allows the statement of an unavailable witness to be introduced into evidence in certain circumstances and by increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of intimidating or interfering with a witness.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Rule 804(b) of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, as contained in G.S. 8C‑1, is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(6)	Forfeiture by wrongdoing. – A statement is not excluded by the hearsay rule if the statement is offered against a party that has engaged or acquiesced in wrongdoing that was intended to and did procure the unavailability of a witness who was the declarant of the statement. The court shall determine the admissibility of the statement under this section by a preponderance of the evidence."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑226(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	If any person shall by threats, menaces or in any other manner intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person who is summoned or acting as a witness in any of the courts of this State, or prevent or deter, or attempt to prevent or deter any person summoned or acting as such witness from attendance upon such court, the person shall be guilty of a Class D felony."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2011, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.