Monmouth County judge rules tape inadmissible in Manasquan murder trial
Back in June I posted an article about an interesting evidence issue during a murder trial at the Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold, New Jersey. Now, the issue has been decided. The judge ruled that the videotape is inadmissible against the defendant at trial. Judge Ira Kreizman ruled that the videotape is inadmissible because it is "completely untrustworthy" and the videotaped interview was filled with static, crackling, and all sorts of outside noises. The Judge also stated that it is incredible that the police officer destroyed his notes from the interview. The Judge further ruled that the State would not be allowed to show the videotape of the interview, with or without the audio, and that the investigators and/or police officers could not testify about the alleged confession during the interview. For additional information, see the Asbury Park Press article entitled "Judge rules videotape unreliable in ex-Manasquan man's murder trial".
This is obviously a devastating blow to the prosecution at trial. The inability to use this confession is tremendously damaging to the State's case. However, it appears that the Judge got it right as it is extremely prejudicial to the defendant to use questionable and unreliable evidence against him during a murder trial. I will try and update this case when it finally resolves.
