[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3359 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3359
To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold case
murders at the instance of certain persons, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 19, 2021
Mr. Swalwell (for himself and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold case
murders at the instance of certain persons, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Homicide Victims' Families' Rights
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. CASE FILE REVIEW.
(a) In General.--An applicable agency shall review the case file
regarding a cold case murder upon written application by a designated
person to determine if a full reinvestigation would result in probative
investigative leads.
(b) Review.--The case file review shall include--
(1) an analysis of what investigative steps or follow-up
steps may have been missed in the initial investigation;
(2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be
interviewed or reinterviewed;
(3) an examination of physical evidence to see if all
appropriate forensic testing and analysis was performed in the
first instance or if additional testing might produce
information relevant to the investigation; and
(4) a modernization of the file to bring it up to current
investigative standards to the extent it would help develop
probative leads.
(c) Reviewer.--The person or persons doing the review required by
subsection (a) shall not have previously investigated the murder at
issue.
(d) Acknowledgment.--The applicable agency shall confirm in writing
receipt of the request provided for under subsection (a).
(e) Prohibition on Multiple Concurrent Reviews.--Only one case
review shall be undertaken at any one time with respect to the same
cold case murder victim.
(f) Time Limit.--No later than six months after the receipt of the
written application submitted pursuant to subsection (a), the
applicable agency shall conclude its case file review and reach a
conclusion about whether or not a full reinvestigation under section 5
is warranted.
(g) Extensions.--
(1) In general.--The applicable agency may extend the limit
in subsection (f) for periods of time not to exceed six months
if said agency makes a finding that the number of case files to
be reviewed make it impracticable to comply with said limit
without unreasonably taking resources from other law
enforcement activities.
(2) Actions subsequent to waiver.--For cases for which the
time limit in subsection (f) is extended, the applicable agency
shall provide notice and an explanation of its reasoning to the
designated person who filed the written application pursuant to
this section.
SEC. 3. APPLICATION.
Each agency shall develop a written application to be used for
designated persons to request a case file review under section 2.
SEC. 4. NOTICE.
Each agency shall provide notice of the rights under this Act to
designated persons as soon as is reasonable after being made aware of a
murder.
SEC. 5. FULL REINVESTIGATION.
(a) In General.--The applicable agency shall conduct a full
reinvestigation of the cold case murder at issue if the review of the
case file required by section 2 concludes that a full reinvestigation
of such cold case murder would result in would result in probative
investigative leads.
(b) Reinvestigation.--A full reinvestigation shall include
analyzing all evidence regarding the cold case murder at issue for the
purpose of developing probative investigative leads as to the
perpetrator.
(c) Reviewer.--The person or persons doing the full reinvestigation
required by subsection (a) shall not have previously investigated the
murder at issue, except for the case file review pursuant to section 2.
(d) Prohibition on Multiple Concurrent Reviews.--Only one full
reinvestigation shall be undertaken at any one time with respect to the
same cold case murder victim.
SEC. 6. CONSULTATION AND UPDATES.
(a) In General.--The applicable agency shall consult with the
designated person who filed the written application pursuant to section
2 and provide him or her with periodic updates during the case file
review and full reinvestigation.
(b) Explanation of Conclusion.--The applicable agency shall meet
with the designated person and discuss the evidence to explain to the
designated person who filed the written application pursuant to section
2 its decision whether or not to engage in the full reinvestigation
provided for under section 5 at the conclusion of the case file review.
SEC. 7. SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS.
(a) Case File Review.--If a case file review is done and a
conclusion is reached not to conduct a full reinvestigation, no
additional case file review shall be undertaken for a period of five
years, unless there is newly discovered, materially significant
evidence.
(b) Full Reinvestigation.--If a full reinvestigation is done and a
suspect is not identified at its conclusion, no additional case file
review or full reinvestigation shall be undertaken for a period of five
years, unless there is newly discovered, materially significant new
evidence.
SEC. 8. DATA COLLECTION.
(a) In General.--Beginning three years after enactment of this Act,
the National Institute of Justice shall publish annually statistics on
the number of cold cases.
(b) Manner of Publication.--The statistics published pursuant to
subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be broken down by the type of crime
and agency.
SEC. 9. PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE.
(a) Regulations.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal agency shall promulgate
regulations to enforce the rights of designated persons and to ensure
compliance by responsible officials with the obligations described in
this Act.
(b) Procedures.--The regulations promulgated under subsection (a)
shall--
(1) designate an administrative authority within the agency
to receive and investigate complaints relating to the provision
or violation of the rights of designated persons;
(2) require a course of training for employees and offices
of agencies within the agency regarding the rights under this
Act;
(3) contain disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or
termination from employment, for employees of the agency who
willfully or wantonly fail to comply with this Act;
(4) establish a process for investigations into the conduct
of those no longer employed by the Federal Government when a
complaint is filed and a process for referrals of recommended
sanctions with respect to such conduct to the appropriate State
bar or other licensing body; and
(5) provide that the head of the agency, or the designee
thereof, shall be the final arbiter of the complaint, and that
there shall be no judicial review of the final decision of the
head of the agency by a complainant.
SEC. 10. WITHHOLDING INFORMATION.
Nothing in this Act shall require an agency to provide information
that would endanger the safety of any person, unreasonably impede an
ongoing investigation, violate a court order, or violate legal
obligations regarding privacy.
SEC. 11. MULTIPLE AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--If there is more than one possible applicable
agency, each applicable agency shall coordinate their case file review
or full reinvestigation such that there is only one joint case file
review or full reinvestigation occuring at a time in compliance with
section 2(e) or 5(d) as applicable.
(b) Bias.--If an immediate family member believes there was bias
demonstrated in the handling of the initial case, any case file review,
or any full reinvestigation by any of the possible applicable agencies,
said family member may communicate that concern to the Attorney
General. The Attorney General shall review the allegations made by the
immediate family member to determine if, in the interest of justice,
another agency should conduct the case file review or full
reinvestigate, as applicable.
SEC. 12. APPLICABILITY.
This Act applies in the case of any murder occurring on or after
January 1, 1970.
SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``designated person'' means an immediate
family member or someone similarly situated as defined by the
Department of Justice.
(2) The term ``immediate family member'' means a parent,
parent-in-law, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, sibling,
spouse, child, or step-child of a murder victim.
(3) The term ``victim'' means a natural person who died as
a result of a murder.
(4) The term ``murder'' means any criminal offense under
section 1111(a) of title 18, United States Code, or any offense
the elements of which are substantially identical to such
section.
(5) The term ``agency'' means a Federal law enforcement
entity that is engaged in the detection, investigation, or
prosecution of murder under Federal law.
(6) The term ``applicable agency'' means an agency that is
investigating or had investigated the murder of a victim.
(7) The term ``cold case'' means a violent crime under
Federal law committed more than three years prior, for which
all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for
which no likely perpetrator has been identified.
(8) The term ``cold case murder'' means a murder committed
more than three years prior, for which all probative
investigative leads have been exhausted, and for which no
likely perpetrator has been identified.
SEC. 14. ANNUAL REPORT.
(a) In General.--Each applicable agency shall submit an annual
report to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee
on the Judiciary describing actions taken and results achieved under
this Act during such year.
(b) Report Described.--The report described in the preceding
subsection shall include the number of written applications filed
pursuant to section 2, the number of extensions granted and an
explanation of reasons provided under section 2(g), the number of full
reinvestigations initiated and closed pursuant to section 5, the number
of suspects identified, arrested, charged, and convicted for the cold
case murder investigated under the Act.
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