Case & Statute Comments - Criminal Law: A New Regime of Electronic Recording of Police Interrogations (Commonwealth v. DiGiambattista, 442 Mass. 423 (2004))

89 Massachusetts Law Review 171 (No. 4, Winter 2006)

15 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2015

Date Written: March 29, 2006

Abstract

This case comment analyzes the rule and significance of Commonwealth v. DiGiambattista, 442 Mass. 423 (2004), in which the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held as a matter of its supervisory authority that whenever a criminal defendant is alleged to have made a statement produced by custodial interrogation or interrogation in a detention facility, if the statement was not electronically recorded the defendant is then entitled to a strongly worded jury instruction that casts significant doubt on the statement's reliability. The ramifications of this decision, which reaches misdemeanors as well as felonies, without regard to whether voluntariness of the statement is at issue or to the reason for the failure to record, will likely be to dramatically increase recording by law enforcement.

Keywords: Interrogation, Confession, Electronic Recording, Custodial, Reliability, Voluntariness

Suggested Citation

Siegel, David M., Case & Statute Comments - Criminal Law: A New Regime of Electronic Recording of Police Interrogations (Commonwealth v. DiGiambattista, 442 Mass. 423 (2004)) (March 29, 2006). 89 Massachusetts Law Review 171 (No. 4, Winter 2006), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2591666

David M. Siegel (Contact Author)

New England Law | Boston ( email )

154 Stuart St.
Boston, MA 02116
United States
(617) 422-7270 (Phone)
(617) 422-7453 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.nesl.edu/clsr/

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