Fabio
117 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
type: "Bill"
|
||
title: "Criminal cases; ex parte requests for expert assistance."
|
||
description: "Ex parte requests for expert assistance in criminal cases. Provides that in any case in which a defendant is charged with a felony offense or a Class 1 misdemeanor and determined to be indigent by the court, the defendant or his attorney, upon notice to the Commonwealth, may move the court to designate another judge in the same circuit to hear an ex parte request for appointment of a qualified expert to assist in the defense. For a motion for expert assistance, the bill requires a defendant or his attorney to state under oath or in a sworn declaration that a need for confidentiality exists. Upon receiving the defendant's or his attorney's declaration of need for confidentiality, the court is required to conduct an ex parte hearing as soon as practicable on the request for authorization to obtain expert assistance. After a hearing upon the motion, the court is required to authorize the defendant or his attorney to obtain expert assistance upon a showing that the requested assistance would materially assist the defendant and that the denial of such services would result in a fundamentally unfair trial.Under current law, in a capital case, a defendant or his attorney is required to show, in an adversarial proceeding before the trial judge, a particularized need for confidentiality of the request for expert assistance. Upon a finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that a particularized need for confidentiality of the expert services exists, the court holds an ex parte hearing and may order the appointment of a qualified expert upon a showing that the provision of the requested expert services would materially assist the defendant in preparing his defense and the lack of such confidential assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial. There is no such procedure to appoint a qualified expert in noncapital cases."
|
||
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
|
||
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
|
||
session: "2020"
|
||
identifier: "HB 824"
|
||
citation: "Virginia HB 824 (2020)"
|
||
classification: ["bill"]
|
||
subjects: []
|
||
status: "enacted"
|
||
primary_sponsors: ["Patrick A. Hope"]
|
||
version_count: 5
|
||
action_count: 45
|
||
vote_count: 12
|
||
first_action: "2020-01-07"
|
||
last_action: "2020-04-10"
|
||
source: "openstates"
|
||
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e4cdaa5-6ef4-4967-acfb-eb052475deda"
|
||
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB824"
|
||
source_hash: "380ae3ca9bfb2692cbd4b300f10c305c183f8be33257f938c3ffd45af719830d"
|
||
vintage: "2026-07-01"
|
||
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
|
||
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
|
||
confidence: "reported"
|
||
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
# Virginia HB 824 (2020) — Criminal cases; ex parte requests for expert assistance.
|
||
|
||
Ex parte requests for expert assistance in criminal cases. Provides that in any case in which a defendant is charged with a felony offense or a Class 1 misdemeanor and determined to be indigent by the court, the defendant or his attorney, upon notice to the Commonwealth, may move the court to designate another judge in the same circuit to hear an ex parte request for appointment of a qualified expert to assist in the defense. For a motion for expert assistance, the bill requires a defendant or his attorney to state under oath or in a sworn declaration that a need for confidentiality exists. Upon receiving the defendant's or his attorney's declaration of need for confidentiality, the court is required to conduct an ex parte hearing as soon as practicable on the request for authorization to obtain expert assistance. After a hearing upon the motion, the court is required to authorize the defendant or his attorney to obtain expert assistance upon a showing that the requested assistance would materially assist the defendant and that the denial of such services would result in a fundamentally unfair trial.Under current law, in a capital case, a defendant or his attorney is required to show, in an adversarial proceeding before the trial judge, a particularized need for confidentiality of the request for expert assistance. Upon a finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that a particularized need for confidentiality of the expert services exists, the court holds an ex parte hearing and may order the appointment of a qualified expert upon a showing that the provision of the requested expert services would materially assist the defendant in preparing his defense and the lack of such confidential assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial. There is no such procedure to appoint a qualified expert in noncapital cases.
|
||
|
||
## Version chain
|
||
|
||
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
|
||
|
||
1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1124)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1124)
|
||
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB824ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB824ER)
|
||
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB824H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB824H1)
|
||
4. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB824H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB824)
|
||
5. **Impact statement from DPB (HB824S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB824S1)
|
||
|
||
## Votes
|
||
|
||
- Passed Senate with substitute (35-Y 5-N) — **35–5** (pass) · upper
|
||
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
|
||
- VOTE: Adoption (87-Y 12-N) — **86–12** (pass) · lower
|
||
- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N) — **0–96** (fail) · lower
|
||
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (12-Y 2-N) — **12–2** (pass) · upper
|
||
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (37-Y 3-N) — **37–3** (pass) · upper
|
||
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 1-N) — **6–1** (pass) · lower
|
||
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 2-N) — **15–2** (pass) · lower
|
||
- Senate insisted on substitute (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
|
||
- Reconsideration of conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
|
||
- VOTE: Passage (93-Y 6-N) — **92–6** (pass) · lower
|
||
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (34-Y 5-N) — **34–5** (pass) · upper
|
||
|
||
## Sponsors
|
||
|
||
- Patrick A. Hope — primary (person)
|
||
|
||
## Timeline
|
||
|
||
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
|
||
|
||
- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20105153D `introduction`
|
||
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
|
||
- **2020-01-28** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
|
||
- **2020-02-06** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
|
||
- **2020-02-06** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 1-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-07** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
|
||
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute printed 20107597D-H1 `substitution`
|
||
- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
|
||
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
|
||
- **2020-02-10** Committee substitute agreed to 20107597D-H1
|
||
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB824H1
|
||
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House (93-Y 6-N) `passage, reading-3`
|
||
- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Passage (93-Y 6-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
|
||
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
|
||
- **2020-02-19** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (12-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
|
||
- **2020-02-19** Committee substitute printed 20108750D-S1 `substitution`
|
||
- **2020-02-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB824S1)
|
||
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
|
||
- **2020-02-24** Reading of substitute waived
|
||
- **2020-02-24** Committee substitute agreed to 20108750D-S1
|
||
- **2020-02-24** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB824S1
|
||
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate with substitute (35-Y 5-N) `passage`
|
||
- **2020-02-26** Placed on Calendar
|
||
- **2020-02-26** Senate substitute rejected by House 20108750D-S1 (0-Y 97-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-28** Senate insisted on substitute (38-Y 0-N)
|
||
- **2020-02-28** Senate requested conference committee
|
||
- **2020-03-02** House acceded to request
|
||
- **2020-03-02** Conferees appointed by House
|
||
- **2020-03-03** Conferees appointed by Senate
|
||
- **2020-03-05** Amended by conference committee
|
||
- **2020-03-05** Conference report agreed to by House (87-Y 12-N)
|
||
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Adoption (87-Y 12-N)
|
||
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by Senate (37-Y 3-N)
|
||
- **2020-03-07** Reconsideration of conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
|
||
- **2020-03-08** Conference report agreed to by Senate (34-Y 5-N)
|
||
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
|
||
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
|
||
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
|
||
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB824ER)
|
||
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
|
||
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
|
||
- **2020-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1124 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`
|
||
|
||
## Source
|
||
|
||
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6e4cdaa5-6ef4-4967-acfb-eb052475deda`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
|
||
|