SENATOR OBAMA:
Thank you very much, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of
the Senate. This bill is part of a -- the broader package that
has been discussed with respect to some reform in the criminal
justice system, a modest reform that, I’m very pleased to see --
say, law enforcement has worked diligently in helping me craft.
Essentially what we’ve tried to do is to create a system whereby
we can introduce videotaping in the narrow circumstances related
to murder but make sure that two things are accomplished:
number one, that it doesn’t impede law enforcement’s
investigations; and number two, that it assures that no guilty
criminal goes free on the basis of a technicality. So what
we’ve been able to do is craft a measure with the help of the
State Police. The Sheriffs’ Association, FOP and State’s
Attorneys have all been involved in these negotiations. I
believe now that we have an appropriate balance with respect to
this bill. I’m very proud of the legislation. I thank all the
parties involved for having put it together, and I would be
happy to answer any specific questions that people may have.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WELCH)
Is there any discussion? Senator Righter.
SENATOR RIGHTER:
Thank you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WELCH)
Sponsor yields.
SENATOR RIGHTER:
Senator, I have not been keeping up - obviously, not a
Member of the Judiciary Committee - not been keeping on it. Can
you walk me through an example of - you know, if you want to
outline a hypothetical case or whatever it may be - what the law
is now and how this would change the law with regards to these
requirements?
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WELCH)
Senator Obama.
SENATOR OBAMA:
The requirement’s fairly simple. Essentially that, in
these circumstances, if you have -- Senator Righter, I want you
to pay attention - Senator Righter - so that you don’t ask the -
- same question again. The -- essentially what would happen is
it would be restricted to murder cases where a murder had
occurred. Videotaping would not apply in various emergency
situations or exigent circumstances whereby the person’s been
handcuffed and they confess or they get in the car and they
confess. But once they were in a police building, in police
custody, at that point, the requirement would be that the
videotaping of the interrogation and the confession take place.
However, what -- what was important to the State’s Attorneys, as
well as law enforcement, was that in -- even in that custodial
situation where the videotaping place -- was taking place, if it
turned out, for example, that the videotape -- the -- the police
officer just stupidly forgot to turn on the videotaping machine
or it malfunctioned in some fashion, then what would happen
would be that the -- the evidence -- the confession could still
be introduced before a judge and as long as there was, by a
preponderance of the evidence, reliability and voluntariness
shown, then the confession could still be introduced. I should
also point out, by the way, that an important factor in terms of
keeping down the costs was that it’s not audio -- videotape is
not the only way to meet the requirement; audiotaping is also
adequate. And the basic idea, and what we’ve seen happen in
Minnesota, jurisdictions in Florida, and so forth, is as this
gets introduced, as long as it’s not so rigid that it hems in
law enforcement, law enforcement is finding it’s actually a
valuable tool for them. And just one good example of a story of
how it can be valuable: There was a police department that
brought a suspect in who claimed that he was blind and couldn’t
have committed the crime, and after the police left the room -
he was not aware, apparently, that he was being videotaped - he
pulls out of his pocket some notes and starts reading them.
Obviously, that was then able to be presented to the jury and --
and helped ensure his conviction. So, generally, the -- the
experience has been positive once this has been initiated.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WELCH)
Senator Righter.
SENATOR RIGHTER:
Just very briefly, Mr. President. I appreciate very much
the Senator’s work in removing the opposition from the law
enforcement community. It sounds like he’s got a great bill and
I'd urge an Aye vote. Thank you.
PRESIDING OFFICER: (SENATOR WELCH)
Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Senator Obama, wish
to close?
SENATOR OBAMA:
Thank you very much. I just want to thank again all the
parties that have been involved. They’ve been working
diligently on this. My -- we have a companion bill in the House
that looks very similar. If there are any tweakings that are
involved, then obviously it will come back on this side and
we’ll be able to make sure that this is a quality bill that
strikes the right balance. I'd ask for an affirmative roll
call.