What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S1255
Title of bill
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to videotaping interrogations
Purpose
To amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to videotaping interrogations.
Summary of provisions
Requires that all interrogations of suspects in police custody be recorded in their entirety.
Existing law
New bill.
Justification
Among many instances in the past including the case of the Central Park 5 (5 young men accused of raping a jogger in Central Park who were later exonerated by DNA evidence and a confession from the real rapist) recent findings report that New York State has had 23 wrongful convictions overturned through DNA evidence, 10 of which innocent people falsely confessed to. Though even one case is too many, considering how few cases involve DNA it is a safe assumption that these 10 cases only represent a fraction of the overall number of cases of wrongful convictions based on false confessions. Therefore any measure to improve the integrity of confessions and protect the accused as well as the police should be taken. Just taping confessions does not show what steps led up to the confession made. Videotaping interrogations in their entirety from beginning to end will allow better insight as to how the confession was brought about from point A to point B. This will help reduce the number of wrongful convictions which is not only helpful to those who are wrongly accused but also helps to increase public safety. In cases where the wrong person is behind bars, the actual criminal is still out committing crimes which puts us all at risk.
Legislative history
2012: Referred to Codes (S.1377) 2011: Referred to Codes (S.1377) 2010: Referred to Codes (S.1082) 2009: Referred to Codes (S.1082) 2008: Referred to Codes (S.6520) 2007: Referred to Rules (S.6520)
Fiscal implications
Unable to be determined at this time.
Local fiscal implications
Unable to be determined at this time.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.