A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that a jury in a capital case shall not find an aggravating circumstance based on the uncorroborated testimony of an in‑custody informant.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 73 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 15A‑1226.1.  Uncorroborated testimony of in‑custody inmate cannot be used to find an aggravating circumstance in capital case.
(a)	As used in this section the term "in‑custody informant" means a person, other than a codefendant, percipient witness, accomplice, or coconspirator, whose testimony is based on statements allegedly made by the defendant while both the defendant and the informant were held within a city or county jail, State penal institution, or correctional institution.
(b)	A jury in a capital case shall not find an aggravating circumstance based on the uncorroborated testimony of an in‑custody informant. The testimony of an in‑custody informant shall be corroborated by other evidence that connects the defendant with the evidence offered to establish an aggravating circumstance. Corroboration of an in‑custody informant shall not be provided by the testimony of another in‑custody informant unless the party calling the in‑custody informant as a witness establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the in‑custody informant has not communicated with another in‑custody informant on the subject of the testimony."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2009, and applies to all capital cases tried on or after that date.