Oklahoma becomes 25th State to Require Recording of Interrogations
05.14.19
Oklahoma Capitol building
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – May 10, 2019) The Innocence Project and the Oklahoma Innocence Project praised Governor J. Kevin Stitt for signing bipartisan legislation to protect against the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Senate Bill 798 requires the use of evidence-based practices that prevent eyewitness misidentification, and Senate Bill 636 requires law enforcement to record suspect interrogations for murder and rape cases, a key protection against false confessions.
In Oklahoma, 11 wrongful convictions involved eyewitness misidentification and five involved false confessions since 1989, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. These cases cost taxpayers nearly $42 million in state compensation and civil payments.
“The new laws will protect the life and liberty of innocent Oklahomans, help law enforcement obtain more accurate evidence, and protect taxpayers,” said Vicki Behenna, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project. “Senator Julie Daniels, Senator Kay Floyd and Representative Chris Kannady provided real leadership on these issues. We’ve also been proud to partner with law enforcement for statewide training on best practices.”
“Many agencies – including the Oklahoma and Tulsa Police Departments – have implemented excellent policies that go even beyond what is required by the new laws,” said Senator Daniels (R-Bartlesville). “These measures will ensure consistent use of evidence-based practices for preventing wrongful convictions throughout the state, while providing agencies with flexibility to adopt policies that are right for them.”
“The newly enacted legislation exemplifies Oklahoma’s leadership and important work on criminal justice reform,” said Representative Chris Kannady (R-Cleveland). “Evidence-based practices ensure accurate convictions, and provides consistent best practices for the brave men and women that serve in law enforcement.”
“Our state is taking an important step to protect innocent Oklahomans from wrongful convictions with these new laws, which is important for justice and public safety,” said Senator Kay Floyd (D-Oklahoma City).
This new legislation positions Oklahoma as a national leader on criminal justice reform – making it the 25th state that requires recording of certain suspect interrogations in their entirety. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice has a policy requiring all federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to record custodial interrogations for suspects of any crimes.
Eyewitness identification best practices have been adopted by 24 states and all federal law enforcement agencies. Senate Bill 798 requires law enforcement agencies to adopt written policies with the following four key procedures, which are endorsed by the National Research Council, the nation’s leading independent scientific entity, the U.S. Department of Justice, International Association of Chiefs of Police, American Bar Association, and many other organizations:
- Blind or blinded administration of lineups, meaning the officer conducting the procedure does not know the suspect’s identity, or if that is not practical, uses a technique of blinded administration in which the officer may know the suspect’s identity but is prevented from seeing which lineup member is being viewed by the witness at a given time, preventing any suggestiveness.
- Eyewitness instructions that the perpetrator may or may not be present in the procedure.
- Proper selection of fillers, the non-suspects in the procedure, to generally match the eyewitness’s description of the perpetrator and do not make the suspect noticeably stand out.
- Eliciting a confidence statement, asking the eyewitness to state in his or her own words the level of certainty in the identification immediately after it is made.
This legislative victory was a collaborative effort between the Innocence Project and the Oklahoma Innocence Project (OKIP).
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May 29, 2019 at 3:15 pm
May 28, 2019 at 10:00 am
Is this not 2 0 1 9 already? Wow, are we the people supposed to celebrate that, after careful research and scrutiny, years of backlogging and painstaking delays, that, after only then, Oklahoma is finally the 25th state to require something as obviously necessary as documentation of an interrogation? I mean, great! It’s a bit disconcerting to know, however, that only twenty five states are at the point of having that level of protection, and that there’s an infinite amount of ever present work and maintenance to do in order to release people, many of whom, never had a chance. The system is inside out. If a system doesn’t work, then what good is anything? I don’t think many of you even realize how unfair the system is. I mean, some do, but others are lost in their ignorance of the system. Do you realize how easy it is for entrapment to occur? Part of the system is nothing but quotas and worse, profiling, ignorance of precedents, selective discrimination, bullying, xenophobia, homophobia, and beyond. We should be beyond celebrating the fact that, only in 2 0 1 9 does Oklahoma mandate a tool like documenting interrogations. What’s next? Are they finally to sterilization of the death chambers needles? How hygienic? It’s the least the can do. But then again, something tells me, in a state like Oklahoma, its always about the ‘least’ they can do.
I have a friend who is doing time. He is innocent and the DA who prosecuted him is in prison now. Even though she is in prison he is still in prison. It clearly states in his court documents that they have the wrong person and ten years later he is still doing time. He has been working with the Innocent Project and I pray he will be freed one day.