Delaware General Assembly

Passed 6/29/21

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

HB 215 w/ HA 1 + SA 1

6/29/21

Pinkney

This Amendment further aligns House Bill No. 215 with the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Electronic Recordation of Custodial Interrogations Act, which is the basis for House Bill No. 215. Specifically, this Amendment does all of the following: (1) Removes the presumption of inadmissibility of a custodial interrogation required to be recorded under § 2003 of Title 11 unless an exception applies and instead requires prosecution to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an exception to the requirement to record electronically applies. (2) In adopting the preponderance of the evidence standard, requires a court to consider the failure to record a custodial interrogation, as required under § 2003 of Title 11, in determining whether a statement made during the interrogation is admissible. (3) Provides that if the court admits into evidence a statement made by an individual during a custodial interrogation that was not recorded electronically in compliance with § 2003 of Title 11, the court is required to afford the individual the opportunity to present to the jury the fact that the statement was not recorded electronically in compliance with § 2003 of this title. (4) Makes clear that in a place of detention, a recording device, other than a body worn camera, must be simultaneously focused on both the law-enforcement officer and the individual subject to the custodial interrogation.

View HTML View PDF