I have found that in every Kansas DUI case, as well as just about every other kind of case, there are at least two sides to every story. Often, the way that the arresting officer and the person who got arrested remember the facts is quite different. For the last decade or so, though, there has increasing been a neutral witness to these cases. Video cameras that capture video and audio recordings of interaction between a police officer and a citizen can make a huge difference in DUI cases. I have probably had more successful outcomes on behalf of my clients because of video than for any other reason. Video really tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Two recent examples demonstrate the power of video in criminal cases. In the first case, Hollywood, Florida police officers are captured on video discussing how they are going to frame a person for a car accident. You can see the video here. In a second case, police are caught giving each other a hand signal for planting drugs on a person, and then, in fact, planting the drugs on the guy. You can see that video here. These are just two recent examples. Video in police vehicle is increasingly capturing police misconduct. That is a good thing. As I have said many times here before, most police officers are dedicated professionals doing a difficult job. However, there are always a few who should not be in the position of power that they are in and video can make a big difference.
Likewise, video regularly captures people committing crimes and helps law enforcement to solve crimes. A video in a Kansas DUI case that shows that a person appears to be drunk can be the most powerful evidence a prosecutor has. In addition, video evidence can refute claims by citizens of police brutality or other misconduct that can be difficult for an officer to defend against. So, videotaping of contacts between police and citizens can be beneficial to both sides of the equation. It provides the only neutral, unbiased recounting of what occurred. If the police are doing their jobs properly, there should be nothing to hide and the video will only bolster his or her case.
There is a national push for the videotaping of all interrogations of suspects of crimes. Many police departments already require it. South Carolina DUI law mandates the videotaping of all DUI arrests from the time that the officer’s lights come on through field sobriety tests and the breath test at the station. Kansas ought to follow the lead of South Carolina.
Kansas DUI laws ought to require that field tests and breath tests be videotaped in all cases in which it is possible. There are police departments which have not installed dash-mounted videocameras in their cars even though the technology has been available and cheap for decades. There are officers who are assigned DUI and traffic enforcement by their departments who, apparently purposefully, do not drive the cars that are equipped with videocameras. Many of the major sheriff’s departments in eastern Kansas do not videotape the breath tests of suspects although such technology is cheap and widely available. So, when a dispute comes up between an officer and a Kansas DUI suspect about whether the person was observed for 20 minutes, or belched before the breath test, or was read the Kansas Implied Consent Advisories, etc. it is one person’s word against the others. Given that the driver has the burden of proof at the administrative driver’s license hearing, yet is allowed no video or any way to obtain the evidence he or she will need, the neutral, unbiased evidence from a videocamera can make a huge difference. There really is no rational opposing view on this issue.
UPDATE: I forgot that the thing that prompted me to go on this rant about video evidence in the first place was this video of a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy stealing documents from the file of a defense attorney. The defendant notices the deputy reading the confidential documents, and then taking some and handing them off to another deputy who spirits them away. The defense attorney then catches on and begins to complain to the judge. The judge tells her to calm down and does next to nothing. The prosecutor, who sees the whole thing, does nothing. Seriously, you should watch the video. The Sheriff’s Department came out later and made some lame excuse for the deputy and refused to take any action against him. If it were not for the video evidence of this theft and extreme breach of attorney/client privilege, I am sure all of this would have been swept quickly under the rug and the story would have been that the defense attorney overreacted or made it all up. Again, this is the power of video.