Footage gathered by police body cameras create a “novel issue” in jury trials, Professor John Gross recently told AL.com.
“Now that the Obama Administration is pushing for national guidelines to encourage police departments to use body cameras, the courts haven’t had a chance to weigh on this because it’s a new issue,” he said. “I can understand why a defense attorney says it does create hearsay problems.”
The concern arises because the cameras don’t record the names of every bystander and witness, Gross said.
“A body camera is recording what a person is saying to them,” he said. “That person might leave the scene and (the officer) might not get that person’s contact information. A prosecutor might not call that person as a witness. If you are playing that tape to the jury, you might have hearsay evidence coming and that witness is not available for cross examination.”
For more, read “As Police Body Cameras Proliferate, New Legal Questions Emerge.”
