Video Evidence in Court
Videotape can be used in the courtroom to convince the jury of the facts. Video technology holds a certain truth that people are more likely to respect than the truth that words hold. Videotape of crimes has been used in trials such as the Rodney King trial, and a trial in the Bahamas where the prosecutors hold video evidence of an admittance of guilt. Video is also used as evidence in international politics. The video evidence of forced abortions was shown at a human rights hearing on China. A debate took place in Malaysia over whether an important trial should be televised. And on the other side of the law, Jack Kevorkian used videotape to try to force his own trial. In all these ways, videotape is changing the way justice is done. This report will look further into these events in which video may be changing the justice system.
Trial in the Bahamas
In November of 1998, prosecutors in Nassau, Bahamas, showed a videotape as evidence at a preliminary hearing. The video could play a significant role in convicting the man, Tennel McIntosh, who admitted on video to one of two murders the police say he committed.
But the case is not so simple. The defendant's attorney said that the videotaped statement should be thrown out because McIntosh is mentally handicapped and his confession came after police beat him. Prosecutors say they showed the video to prove that police did not force the admission, in order to deflect any accusations of police brutality by the defense.
The day that the two bodies were found, McIntosh is said to have acted strangely and had marks on his body (allegedly from struggling with a victim). Police also say that DNA evidence link him to the crime. But whether the police arrested the right man still seems unclear. McIntosh does not have many supporters on the island, possibly due to "the negative impact the slayings have had on the tourist industry, which is the lifeblood of the Bahamas." (Times-Dispatch) Locals were looking forward to an arrest being made. McIntosh's grandfather says the 18 year old "has the mental capabilities of a 10-year-old" and is a "very gentle person" (Times-Dispatch).
The video evidence being used in this trial may convict an innocent man, or, if he is guilty, the video may aid in bringing the victims to justice.
