Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 10, 2006 22:36:48 GMT -5
Legislature approves bills on wrongful convictions
California lawmakers, seeking to reduce the chances of innocent people
going to prison, have approved proposals to require that interrogations of
violent-crime suspects be tape recorded, and to set new guidelines for
eyewitness identifications at lineups and photo displays.
The bills, sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the final day of the
legislative session last week, grew out of findings by a state commission
that was created to determine and eliminate the causes of wrongful
convictions.
"These 2 issues, mistaken eyewitness identification and false confessions,
are the 2 leading causes of false convictions,'' said Natasha Minsker, a
lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports the
measures.
Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the two bills and is being
urged by some police groups to veto them.
In a letter to the governor, the California State Sheriffs Association
said the interrogation-taping measure would be "a huge mandate on local
law enforcement'' because of the cost of recording equipment, and is too
rigid in its requirements.
But former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, chairman of the California
Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, noted that the proposal
is supported by most of the commission's law enforcement representatives,
including Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, three district
attorneys and Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
A commission report in July said the need to record interrogations is
illustrated by numerous cases of suspects who confess to crimes they
didn't commit.
One commission witness, Harold Hall, spent 19 years in prison for a rape
and double murder in Los Angeles before being cleared by DNA testing in
2004. Another, Chris Ochoa, was exonerated by DNA tests after 12 years
behind bars for a Texas rape-murder. Both said they had confessed under
pressure and said jurors might have been able to detect that if the
confessions had been taped.
The bills are the first to stem from reports issued by the commission,
which the state Senate established in 2004 to look into the causes of
wrongful convictions and recommend changes. Its 19 members include
prosecutors, defense lawyers, police representatives and scholars.
Future hearings will look into the role of jailhouse informants, physical
evidence, attorney incompetence and misconduct, and the administration of
the death penalty. A final report is due at the end of 2007.
The interrogation bill, SB171 by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, would
require audiotaping of violent-felony suspects questioned in a police
station.
Confessions that were not recorded could still be introduced in court,
under a 1982 ballot measure that requires California to follow federal
standards on evidence. But the trial judge would have to tell jurors to
consider the confession with caution.
The commission's report said many law enforcement agencies already tape at
least a majority of their interrogations, including sheriff's departments
in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the San Francisco Police Department,
and all agencies in Santa Clara County.
The California District Attorneys Association supports a statewide
requirement, said Executive Director David LaBahn. He noted that the
proposal was modified from earlier drafts to limit its coverage to violent
felonies and to delete any requirement for videotaping.
As a former prosecutor in child-molesting cases, LaBahn said, he learned
that when presenting evidence to a jury, "there's nothing better than
having that individual speaking on tape.''
The eyewitness bill, SB1544 by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco,
addresses what the commission described as the leading cause of wrongful
convictions, mistaken identifications. But the measure was softened
considerably from earlier proposals by some commission members who wanted
to set binding rules for all police agencies.
Instead, it would require Lockyer to form a task force that would draft
statewide police guidelines for eyewitnesses, taking the commission's
findings into consideration.
The key finding is that mistaken identifications can be reduced if the
officer who supervises a lineup, or displays photos to a witness, doesn't
know who the suspect is and thus is unable to give subtle hints to the
witness.
The commission also recommended that photos or members of a lineup be
presented to a witness individually, rather than in a group, so that the
witness can make individual decisions rather than saying which person
looks most like the suspect.
Witnesses should also be asked how certain they are of their
identifications and should be told that the suspect may or may not be in
the lineup or photo display, the commission said.
(source: San Francisco Chronicle)
California lawmakers, seeking to reduce the chances of innocent people
going to prison, have approved proposals to require that interrogations of
violent-crime suspects be tape recorded, and to set new guidelines for
eyewitness identifications at lineups and photo displays.
The bills, sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the final day of the
legislative session last week, grew out of findings by a state commission
that was created to determine and eliminate the causes of wrongful
convictions.
"These 2 issues, mistaken eyewitness identification and false confessions,
are the 2 leading causes of false convictions,'' said Natasha Minsker, a
lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports the
measures.
Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the two bills and is being
urged by some police groups to veto them.
In a letter to the governor, the California State Sheriffs Association
said the interrogation-taping measure would be "a huge mandate on local
law enforcement'' because of the cost of recording equipment, and is too
rigid in its requirements.
But former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, chairman of the California
Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, noted that the proposal
is supported by most of the commission's law enforcement representatives,
including Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, three district
attorneys and Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
A commission report in July said the need to record interrogations is
illustrated by numerous cases of suspects who confess to crimes they
didn't commit.
One commission witness, Harold Hall, spent 19 years in prison for a rape
and double murder in Los Angeles before being cleared by DNA testing in
2004. Another, Chris Ochoa, was exonerated by DNA tests after 12 years
behind bars for a Texas rape-murder. Both said they had confessed under
pressure and said jurors might have been able to detect that if the
confessions had been taped.
The bills are the first to stem from reports issued by the commission,
which the state Senate established in 2004 to look into the causes of
wrongful convictions and recommend changes. Its 19 members include
prosecutors, defense lawyers, police representatives and scholars.
Future hearings will look into the role of jailhouse informants, physical
evidence, attorney incompetence and misconduct, and the administration of
the death penalty. A final report is due at the end of 2007.
The interrogation bill, SB171 by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, would
require audiotaping of violent-felony suspects questioned in a police
station.
Confessions that were not recorded could still be introduced in court,
under a 1982 ballot measure that requires California to follow federal
standards on evidence. But the trial judge would have to tell jurors to
consider the confession with caution.
The commission's report said many law enforcement agencies already tape at
least a majority of their interrogations, including sheriff's departments
in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the San Francisco Police Department,
and all agencies in Santa Clara County.
The California District Attorneys Association supports a statewide
requirement, said Executive Director David LaBahn. He noted that the
proposal was modified from earlier drafts to limit its coverage to violent
felonies and to delete any requirement for videotaping.
As a former prosecutor in child-molesting cases, LaBahn said, he learned
that when presenting evidence to a jury, "there's nothing better than
having that individual speaking on tape.''
The eyewitness bill, SB1544 by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco,
addresses what the commission described as the leading cause of wrongful
convictions, mistaken identifications. But the measure was softened
considerably from earlier proposals by some commission members who wanted
to set binding rules for all police agencies.
Instead, it would require Lockyer to form a task force that would draft
statewide police guidelines for eyewitnesses, taking the commission's
findings into consideration.
The key finding is that mistaken identifications can be reduced if the
officer who supervises a lineup, or displays photos to a witness, doesn't
know who the suspect is and thus is unable to give subtle hints to the
witness.
The commission also recommended that photos or members of a lineup be
presented to a witness individually, rather than in a group, so that the
witness can make individual decisions rather than saying which person
looks most like the suspect.
Witnesses should also be asked how certain they are of their
identifications and should be told that the suspect may or may not be in
the lineup or photo display, the commission said.
(source: San Francisco Chronicle)