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August 17, 2005
LAW ENFORCEMENT: What information about a suspect shouldn't you release?
In a press release about an incident in Arizona in which a 17-year-old was arrested as he walked into a bank wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, police said “detectives responded and interviewed the 17-year old male suspect. The suspect admitted that he planned to rob the bank.”
A release out of New Jersey about the arrest of three men in connection with the shooting of a police officer said that one of the suspects had “a criminal record that includes convictions for burglary, receiving stolen property, and eluding police.”
Any idea what’s wrong with these two statements?
The answer can be found in the Media Relations section of the United States Attorneys’ Manual, which says that “statements, admissions, confessions, or alibis attributable to a defendant” is among information that “could tend to prejudice an adjudicative proceeding.”
Also not recommended is dissemination of “any information concerning a defendant's or subject's prior criminal record either during an investigation or at a trial.”
In addition to discussing what information can be released, the manual gives guidance to law enforcement officials on assisting media and discusses the balance of the need for confidentiality with the need for a free public trial.
Posted by dbauthor at August 17, 2005 8:41 PM
Comments
Applause!
Posted by: Upanaway at August 18, 2005 11:29 PM
This could be construed as being off topic, but if we're discussing what should and shouldn't be submitted to the public forum regarding a suspect, what about the treatment of juries as absolute idiots? I find it irritating that a discrediting characteristic for a potential juror may be any expertise or knowledge they may have on subject-matter related to the trial at hand.
If the issue at hand is the best lawyer, I can understand the attention to argument rather than fact (which prior criminal activity would indeed be described as). But if the question is one of guilt vs. innocence, how can one drown in too much information?
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