Smile, You're on the D.A.'s Camera

Taped confessions prove a prime tool in the war on crime

In a gritty N.Y.P.D. interrogation room, the camera pans over the usual cast (a detective, a stenographer, a prosecutor) before zooming in on the suspect. Clifford Brighton, 22, with pockmarks and a bruised eye, describes how he held up a supermarket earlier that day using a hostage: "I grabbed the cop and stuck a gun in him and took him into the store."

An old Kojak episode? A clip from Hill Street Blues? No, the dramatic scene is a real confession on videotape. It is one that may be repeated 500 times this year by the district attorney's office in The Bronx. The technique has resulted in a guilty-plea rate of 85% and a conviction rate of almost 100%. And New York City is not alone. Taped confessions are the latest tools of enterprising law-enforcement agencies around the country.

The tapes save days in pretrial hearings by permitting judges to determine quickly if a confession is voluntary and can be used as evidence. They leave no doubts that the suspect was read his Miranda rights to remain silent and have an attorney, and that he waived them. The tapes also provide clear, tamperproof visual records for all trial participants. Another unanticipated benefit: defendants seem willing to confess when looking at the little red light. Brighton, for instance, pleaded guilty after making his statement on the tube and was sentenced to six to 18 years in prison. From the time of his arrest, the entire process took four months, less than half the usual time for a robbery case that goes to trial.

Since the early 1970s, law-enforcement officers have used video cameras to tape drunk-driving suspects, for crowd surveillance and to record "sting" operations. (By far the most famous use: the Abscam investigations that led to the convictions of former New Jersey Senator Harrison Williams and six Congressmen.)

The St. Louis police department, one of the video pioneers, has employed the tape method on crimes ranging from burglary to murder. Says homicide division Lieut. William Wilson: "When defense lawyers see the tape, they usually tell their clients, 'Take whatever they'll give you.' "

Miami prosecutors utilize video cameras in major murder cases. In New Orleans, TV confessions are used when illiterate defendants are unable to sign transcribed statements. The Minneapolis police department records statements from child-abuse victims. Says Chief Anthony Bouza: "That way a child recounting a traumatic event doesn't have to repeat it 20 times."

Some attorneys, however, are skeptical about the benefits. Says Lawyer Howard Specter of Pittsburgh: "A suspect may be overwhelmed by the videotape equipment. The potential for taking advantage seems strong." Defense Attorney William Murphy of Chicago says, "Let's face it. Some confessions are elicited not by beating but by trickery."

Why do defendants confess on camera? "It seems to be human nature," says Prosecutor George Peach of St. Louis. "Anybody who's guilty wants to get it off his chest and tell somebody." Bronx D.A. Mario Merola, whose office was the first to use videotaped confessions back in 1975, reports only ten refusals by confessing defendants to be videotaped out of 3,000 requests. Merola's diagnosis: "People in this country are weaned on TV, and people are hams."

So far, no one has seriously challenged the constitutionality of voluntary videotaped confessions. Meanwhile, says Merola, videotaping "is taking the gamesmanship out of the process; it tells the truth." And in living color, no less. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.