Toward the end of his State of the County address last week, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy announced that the county would begin videotaping interrogations:
"In law enforcement, videotaping interrogations has been an issue over the past few years. I have been discussing the matter with District Attorney Tom Spota and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, and I am happy to announce tonight that they have agreed in concept to video recording the entire interrogations of those in custody in homicide squad investigations. This new protocol will afford the community at large, and our juries, with further transparency and heighten confidence in the criminal justice process."
On hearing this news, Steve Drizin of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern said, "The release of Martin Tankleff and his likely exoneration has already accomplished something that reformers who fought for his release for 18 years could not....If this reform comes to pass, it should be a catalyst for statewide reform. Suffolk has a sordid history with police abuses during interrogations and has resisted any reform in this area for nearly two decades." This echoed statements by the Innocence Project's Barry Scheck and NY Assemblyman Joseph Lentol about the importance of Marty's case in getting a stalled state bill passed mandating the recording of interrogations.
For the record, Spota told Newsday the impetus for the new policy was related to requests by unnamed jurors and had nothing to do with Marty's case, or, presumably, with the State investigation Commission (SIC) probe into Suffolk law enforcement's conduct in Marty's conviction, or with the SIC's damning 1989 report citing an eye-popping 94% confession rate in Suffolk County.
Whatever the precipitating event, we look forward to seeing if and how "in concept" becomes "in practice," and how "entire interrogations" is defined. Is it when the grilling starts or after Miranda warnings have been given and the subject has already been reduced to putty? Marty's grilling began at the scene of the crime when Det. James McCready showed up. When does an "interview" become an "interrogation?" Reforms need to be engineered based on how false confessions happen.
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Meanwhile, a 27-year veteran of the Suffolk County PD has been suspended without pay for using his office email account to communicate to a Newsday reporter his opinion on Marty's case. It may not surprise you to learn that Lieutenant Raymond Smith believes Tankleff is innocent. "He's allowed to believe that," a police source told Newsday. "He's not allowed to put those opinions forward as a lieutenant with the Suffolk County Police Department, outside the department." Not even now that Marty's conviction has been vacated, making him...innocent?
It appears Smith's expression of his opinions was considered conduct unbecoming an officer, while Smith, a lawyer by training, claims he was exercising his First Amendment rights. The scores of comments on the Newsday article, beginning with the very first one by RU Serious, provide perspective:
"You've got to be kidding me....A cop finally gets suspended without pay but not for abusing his power, selling drugs, stealing evidence, etc., but for emails??? So, I guess it's okay for a cop to abuse people and his power and he'll get suspended with pay, but send an email and that's it, you're out...."
Were you ever read your Miranda rights before interrigation? I am working on an independent study for a Participation in Government course.
Posted by: Dan Trudnak | May 23, 2008 at 11:33 AM