Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 18.061 · Subchapter C. ADMISSIBILITY
COMMUNICATIONS OF SYMPATHY.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A court in a civil action may not admit a communication that:
(1) expresses sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of an individual involved in an accident;
(2) is made to the individual or a person related to the individual within the second degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code; and
(3) is offered to prove liability of the communicator in relation to the individual.
(b) In this section, "communication" means:
(1) a statement;
(2) a writing; or
(3) a gesture that conveys a sense of compassion or commiseration emanating from humane impulses.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections (a) and (b), a communication, including an excited utterance as defined by Rule 803(2) of the Texas Rules of Evidence, which also includes a statement or statements concerning negligence or culpable conduct pertaining to an accident or event, is admissible to prove liability of the communicator.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 673, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.18.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 2c684be066d73175f3861b3391eac887118fb3a714751701531c200cb4ad73a0
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
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Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.