The “special rule of privilege in criminal cases” found in Tex. R. Evid. 503(b)(2) has a new lease on life. As discussed in a previous post, it was slated to be erased from the book on September 1 of this year. But public comment saved the provision. According to a June 23 article from Texas Lawyer,
[T]he state’s highest criminal court unanimously decided June 16 to defer the proposed deletion of Texas Rule of Evidence 503(b)(2) at least six months to allow ample opportunity for all interested parties to draft a proposed substitute for that rule or to draft a rule or statute to govern the attorney work-product doctrine.
As someone who offered comments on the proposed change, I am very grateful and encouraged that the Court of Criminal Appeals would respond this way to public comment. Check out Grits for Breakfast for a summary of this issue. Kudos to those listed on Grits, especially to Robert Guest, who first sounded the alarm in the blogosphere, and to Judge Cochran, whose blogging on the subject via Grits was a landmark event.
