Senate committee substitute to the 3rd edition makes the following changes.

Amends GS 15A-1465 by removing the requirement that the Director of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission report to the chairs of the specified NCGA committee annually by February 1 of each year on all funds received through private gifts, donations, or devises from any source other than the State. Instead, amends GS 15A-1475 to require that the Commission's annual report to the same NCGA committee include a record of the receipt and expenditure of all private donations, gifts, and devises for the reporting period.

Makes additional technical changes.

Adds the following content.

Amends GS 15A-211, making laws governing electronic recording of juvenile interrogations applicable to any custodial interrogation of any person in a felony criminal investigation conducted at any place of detention (previously, any custodial interrogation of any person in a criminal investigation conducted at any place of detention if the investigation is related to any Class A, B1, or B2 felony, and any Class C felony of rape, sex offense, or assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflecting serious injury). Amends the statute's stated purpose to include increasing court confidence in addition to court efficiency. Revises the definition of in its entirety as it applies to the Article to include an uninterrupted record that begins at the start of the interview of custodial interrogation and ends when the custodial interrogation has completely finished. Eliminates the requirement for the record to clearly show both the interrogator and the person in custody; instead requires any visual recording of a custodial interrogation to film both the interrogator and suspect. Adds that the record must reflect all starting and ending times and dates, as well as the starting time and date of the recess and resumption of the interrogation. Replaces the previous provisions regarding electronic recording requirements. Enacts a similar requirement to require any law enforcement officer conducting a custodial interrogation in a place of detention of (1) a juvenile involved in a criminal investigation or (2) any person involved in a felony criminal investigation, to make an electronic recording of the custodial interrogation in its entirety. Requires recordings of non-defendant custodial interrogations to be provided to the juvenile or criminal defendant as part of discovery requirements under GS Chapters 7B and 15A. Adds that electronic recordings of non-defendant custodial interrogations can be destroyed at the conclusion of the State appeal process. Applies to custodial interrogations occurring on or after October 1, 2023.

Effective October 1, 2023, amends GS 15A-266.7, requiring the State Crime Lab to notify the office of district attorney for all CODIS matches. 

Adds new Article 54, Reliability of In-Custody Informant Statements, to GS Chapter 15A, providing as follows. Requires all interviews of in-custody informants by a law enforcement officer to be recorded using a visual recording device that provides an authentic, accurate, unaltered, and uninterrupted record of the interview that clearly shows both the interviewer and the in-custody informant. Provides an exception for attorneys for the State or defense conducting an interview as part of trial preparation. Defines in-custody informant as a person, other than a co-defendant, accomplice, or co-conspirator, 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 or a State correctional institution or otherwise confined, where statements relate to offenses that occurred outside of the confinement. Prohibits destroying or altering any electronic recording of an in-custody informant interview until one year after the completion of all State and federal appeals of the conviction, including the exhaustion of any appeal of any motion for appropriate relief or habeas corpus proceedings. Requires law enforcement to clearly identify and catalogue every electronic recording. Applies to offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023.

Make conforming changes to the act's long title. 

House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following change.

Amends GS 15A-1465 as follows. Reinstates the provisions that allow the director to apply for and accept on behalf of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (Commission) other sources of funding than government grants. Adds that the acceptance of private gifts and donations does not create any obligation for the Commission. Gives the Director of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (Director) the sole authority to direct the use of private gifts and donations.

Deletes proposed changes to GS 15A-1466 and GS 15A-1467.

Deletes the proposed changes to the Commission's proceedings under GS 15A-1468 and instead makes the following changes. Extends the time a prehearing conference must be held to 30 days (was, 90 in previous edition and 10 in current law) before any proceedings of the full Commission. Adds that the Commission may call for a prehearing conference at any time the Commission has developed credible evidence to support a claim of factual innocence. Requires when Commission hearing is continued for any reason, that at least 10 days before the newly scheduled hearing a subsequent prehearing conference be held to discuss any newly developed evidence was not previously provided. Gives the district attorney, or designee, and the claimant's counsel the ability to access, review, and inspect the Commission's entire case file at least 60 days prior to the Commission hearing (was, the District Attorney, or designee, shall be provided (i) an opportunity to inspect any evidence that may be presented to the Commission that has not previously been presented to any judicial officer or body and (ii) any information that the District Attorney, or the District Attorney's designee, deems relevant to the proceedings). Requires the Commission to present and make the information available in a reasonably organized manner that it not to be overly burdensome to the Commission, the district attorney, or the claimant's counsel. Allows the district attorney to provide the Commission with a written statement, at least 10 days before a Commission hearing (was, at least 72 hours before a Commission proceeding), which is part of the record. Adds that the Commission has an ongoing duty to provide any newly discovered evidence to the district attorney and the claimant's counsel until the hearing begins. Requires that evidence not provided to the district attorney and the claimant's counsel in the initial release of information to be provided at least 10 days prior to the Commission hearing. Requires the Commission to keep a clear record of which materials have been previously made available for review and inspection. Requires the victim to be notified at least 10 (was, 30) days before initial prehearing conference. Adds that the Director is allowed to notify the victim at an earlier date in the proceedings. Adds to the individuals to whom evidence favorable to the convicted person disclosed through formal inquiry or Commission proceedings must be disclosed to include the district attorney, or the district attorney's designee, of the district where the claimant was convicted of the felony upon which the claim of factual innocence is based.

Amends GS 15A-1469 by amending who must provide to the other parties any evidence each intends to introduce at the evidentiary hearing, at least 10 days prior to the evidentiary hearing, to include the district attorney and the claimant's counsel (was, the district attorney, defense counsel, and the Commission). Maintains other changes made to the statute in the previous edition.

Makes additional technical changes.