Friday, November 01, 2002

I agree with this NY Times op-ed that confessions to police should be videotaped. We should have a rule of evidence that confession are only admissable if the whole interrogation and confession are videotaped. But his main example is the NY Central Park jogger case where a women was raped and beaten to death by a gang, and several youths confessed and were convicted. Now the convicted want out because of a DNA mismatch. But the convicts who confessed may still be completely guilty. It was known all along that some of the gang got away. Apparently the DNA matches one of those that got away. But those in the gang who participated in the murder are still guilty. They were convicted by a jury that realized that the worst perp might have gotten away.

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