Timex's Journal: Interrogation of suspect nets charges for NY detective

A teenage suspect who secretly recorded his interrogation on an MP3 player has landed a veteran detective in the middle of perjury charges. According to the article, Detective Christopher Perino testified in April that the suspect "wasn't questioned" about a shooting in the Bronx, but then the defense confronted the detective with a transcript it said proved he had spent more than an hour unsuccessfully trying to persuade the suspect to confess--at times with vulgar tactics.

On the one hand, this supports stories we've all heard before, that suspects often get badgered in the interrogation room. On the other hand, it will be a while before anyone is allowed to carry even an MP3 player into the room with them...

Nice

[peacefinder]

Problem is, in many places what the kid did - recording someone in person without their knowledge - is illegal. (Oregon for instance is like this... although if you record a phone call you have no problem so long as one participant knows. WTF?)

This is an excellent example of why that's a bad law, of course. Good for the kid; I hope he doesn't get hung out to dry for defending himself.

Re:

[iminplaya]

I would contend that people in a position of authority over others should not enjoy any rights to privacy. And they should pay double for violations of law that we pay them to uphold. That should be the price of possessing that authority. Wanna be a cop or a politician? Then we have the right to record everything you do. Yes, very good for the kid, and I hope more people do the same. Let's make these devices harder for the authorities to detect. It reduce the number of innocents we have locked up, and on de

I do wonder

[Degrees]

If any person is being detained by a public officer in a public building, being questioned about a crime; does the 'reasonable expectation of privacy' idea hold up? By what right could the police claim that a person should be deprived of their ability to record the conversation/interrogation?

Officers on duty are profoundly 'public employees in service of public safety'.

Sure, there could be issues if other (minor) suspects were in the same room and being questioned. But if it's just you and the police - I'

Wouldn't...

[FroMan]

Wouldn't the SOP be to record all interrogations? It is much easier to evaluate responses through a recording instead of relying on the memory of the police officer I would think.

Wouldn't that nulify the need for this kid to record it on his mp3 player?

Re:

[Timex]

Wouldn't the SOP be to record all interrogations? It is much easier to evaluate responses through a recording instead of relying on the memory of the police officer I would think.

Wouldn't that nulify the need for this kid to record it on his mp3 player?

It would, but I would imagine that the defense would have a hard time getting a copy of the proceedings...

The police (as in Law Enforcement, not the band) generally has a hard time accepting the idea that the people they are supposed to have sworn "to serve