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Showing posts with label Videotape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Videotape. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Can a Jury Believe What It Sees?

Videotaped Confessions Can Be Misleading

By Jennifer L. Mnookin
The New York Times
Originally published July 13, 2014

Here is an excerpt:

The short answer is that, according to recent research, interrogation recording may in fact be too vivid and persuasive. Even seemingly neutral recordings still require interpretation. As advertisers and Hollywood directors know well, camera angles, close-ups, lenses and dozens of other techniques shape our perception of what we see without our being aware of it.

In a series of experiments led by the psychologist G. Daniel Lassiter of Ohio University, mock juries were shown exactly the same interrogation, but some saw only the defendant, while others had a wider-angle view that included the interrogator. When the interrogator isn’t shown on camera, jurors are significantly less likely to find an interrogation coercive, and more likely to believe in the truth and accuracy of the confession that they hear — even when the interrogator explicitly threatens the defendant.

The entire article is here.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Loughner's Exams Will Not Be Recorded

(Courthouse News Service) - The government does not have to videotape medical evaluations of the suspected Tucson shooter, a federal judge ruled Thursday, finding that it would be distracting to the suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, and a burden to doctors.

"The defendant's original competency examination was videotaped, and this was apparently very distracting to the defendant and a hindrance to the FMC staff conducting the examination," U.S. District Judge Larry Burns wrote, referring to the Medical Center for Federal Prisons in Springfield, Mo., where Loughner is undergoing treatment for schizophrenia after a federal judge declared him incompetent to stand trial.

Loughner is charged with carrying out a shooting rampage on Jan. 8 that killed six people and injured 13, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

During the competency exampination, Loughner "more than once ... questioned the need for the camera while the staff was interacting with him, and on one occasion in particular he reacted violently to it," Burns added.

Loughner's attorney Judy Clarke had asked for an order to videotape future sessions Loughner has since the suspect is expected to remain at the facility indefinitely while doctors assess his competence.

Burns said Clarke's notion of what constitutes a clinical assessment is too broad and would place an undue burden on examiners.

"The uncertain duration of the defendant's present commitment to FMC, coupled with the extensive attention and care he is now receiving because of his mental condition, would make videotaping all clinical assessments a substantial imposition on the work of the FMC staff," the three-page decision states. "This difficulty is partially illustrated by the defendant's conception of a 'clinical assessment,' which defense counsel define as 'interactions by clinical staff at Springfield with Mr. Loughner that relate to discussions of medication, competence, restoration, clinical symptoms, and current functioning.' Such a broad, catch-all definition will invariably invite an interaction-by-interaction analysis as to whether videotaping is necessary, and it is not fair to burden the FMC staff with that analysis."