NCJ Number
205592
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 52 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 92-94
Date Published
April 2004
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article reviews various digital recording formats and considers the applicable law regarding the use of digital video evidence in a courtroom.
Abstract
The admissibility of digital video images into a court of law may hinge on the image integrity of the digital recording. The article begins with a review of the various in-car digital recording formats on the market. When considering which product to purchase it is important to keep in mind that the format must record at no less than full-screen to frames per second to capture the complete picture with sound. The next main consideration is whether the format has compression capabilities in order to acquire additional recording time and to reduce storage space. Concerns involved with the use of digital formats include the issue of how to get the recorded video from the police car to storage. Some manufacturers have utilized a “firewall” or cable connection that allows the recording to be downloaded without removing the recording device from the car. The use of CD-ROM/DVD is the closest format to traditional analog tapes; the use of DVD’s would require the removal of the disk, which leads to issues of storage, indexing, and data retrieval. Indexing and retrieval are the most complex issues in terms of evidence admissibility; the main concern to a court of law is that the information that was recorded is the same information that is presented in court, tamper-free. To guard the admissibility of digital recorded evidence, it is paramount to standardize and secure image-handling procedures. In order to predict the reasoning of the court in terms of the admissibility of digital evidence, it is helpful to study the history of admissibility arguments regarding analog recordings.