Death penalty reform law signed to require taping of murder interrogations.

[softheart]

ILLINOIS:


In an attempt to reduce the chance of error in death penalty cases,
Gov.
Rod Blagojevich signed a bill Thursday requiring police in Illinois to
tape interrogations and confessions of murder suspects.

"It is our moral duty to restore the integrity of the criminal justice
system as we know it today in Illinois," said Blagojevich, whose
predecessor gained national headlines for his moratorium on capital
punishment.

The law requires police to make audio or video recordings when they
question murder suspects to reduce the possibility that confessions are
coerced or even tortured out of suspects. Agencies will have 2 years to
come up with procedures.

"This is the most substantial criminal justice reform measure since the
1960s in Illinois," said Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern
University's Center on Wrongful Convictions.

The Illinois law is the first of its kind in the country, Warden said,
although he added that police in Minnesota and Alaska must record
interrogations of murder suspects because of court orders.

The bill is one of several passed this spring to address a system that
former Gov. George Ryan had declared deeply flawed.

Since capital punishment resumed in Illinois in 1977, 13 men have been
released from the state's death row after they were found to have been
wrongly convicted. In several of the cases, the men claimed their
confessions had been coerced.

Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions in 2000, then commuted every
death
sentence in the state before leaving office in January.

"Illinois has taken the leadership in a number of areas on the death
penalty," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington,
D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. "This is part of a much
bigger puzzle of trying to make fairness out of the death penalty. It's
clearly an important 1st step."

Blagojevich has not decided whether to sign other death penalty reforms
passed by the legislature. Even if he does, he said, he is not sure the
changes will make him comfortable enough with Illinois' capital
punishment
system to lift Ryan's moratorium.

Larry Trent, director of the Illinois State Police, said the law will
result in better police work, which would lead to better cases and
convictions. But John Piland, president of the Illinois State's
Attorneys
Association, a prosecutors group, said it won't eliminate coercion
claims
because videotapes may not show the circumstances leading up to a
confession.

"To say this is going to end all claims of police misconduct, it
won't,"
Piland said. "The imagination isn't confined to that which is captured
on
tape and is in the room."

Piland's group worked with lawmakers to ensure there were exceptions to
the taping requirement, such as if someone confessed in a squad car or
taping equipment broke.

Also Thursday, Blagojevich signed a bill requiring police to record the
race of people they pull over during traffic stops. The state
Transportation Department will review the data for signs of racial
bias.

Another bill signed by the governor will allow people to have their
arrest
records expunged if they are later found to be innocent.

(source: Associated Press)

[Rostonhall]

Living in a country where ALL interviews are taped, redardless of the suspected crime, and have been for quite a few years, I think this is well overdue. It's a step in the right direction

Rose

[toi_ama]

I don't think audio taping is acceptable. I think the only thing acceptable is video taping, period. No audio taping only at all. If they don't accept audio tapes as evidence in most cases, then why would they accept an audio taped "confession" and interrogation? Too much could be falsified or hidden or at any rate not provable. And I don't think it should be just murder------I think it should be ALL interrogations on video. Further, I believe that all victims and their interviews should be on video------extreme? I don't think so. These videos needn't be made public, because I do think victims have their rights to privacy, but I do believe they should be videotaped. And I think those tapes should be available to defense attorneys as part of disclosure.

[Rostonhall]

If it's done the right way there should be no problems. Here, as I understand, a double recording is made using brand new tapes. The tapes are sealed when the interview is over and one tape is kept by the defendant (or lawyer if one is present) the other kept by the police and can be used as evidence. Video tapes can just as easily be altered but there must always be a sealed copy of whatever method is used to be given to the accused.
Video taping would, of course, stop any excess force being used to gain a confession but audio taping, if applied properly, will also do this.

Rose

[KRIS_NC]

TOO BAD NORTH CAROLINA DOESNT HAVE THIS.....