Re: 911:: spontaneous statements

[Guest guest]

so i guess the concept holds true, at least for you in colorado. I should

probably check with our legal counsel for their view n the matter before i tell

my folks to embrace it.

J. Fred

Salem

dsptchmom@... wrote:

> Gonna change the subject line on this... dealing with only criminal calls

> (not medical information calls) anything said to a dispatcher, whether in

> response to a question or just volunteered is admissible into court here in

> Colorado. Because at the time of the call, the caller is NOT in custody or

> charged with anything, what they say can and is used against them!! I once

> took a 9-1-1 call asking for an ambulance. When I asked " why do you need an

> ambulance? " the caller said " I just stabbed my old lady 'cause she pushed me

> past my limits " . Unfortunately the woman died and I got hauled into court

> because I had received the unsolicited confession. It's like a dying

> declaration - person does not need to be in custody or Mirandized for it to

> hold up. We're trained that when we get these kind of callers, we can ask

> Why? How? Where? etc and it becomes part of the case file. I sure didn't

> enjoy going to court and facing a murderer, but it's part of the job.

[Guest guest]

On Tue, 8 Aug 2000 at 06:18:51 EDT,

Kathy wrote:

>

> dealing with only criminal calls (not medical information

> calls) anything said to a dispatcher, whether in response

> to a question or just volunteered is admissible into court

> here in Colorado. Because at the time of the call, the

> caller is NOT in custody or charged with anything,

> <edit...............edit>

> I sure didn't enjoy going to court and facing a murderer, but

> it's part of the job.

Most people I know say they don't like going to court but it has never

bothered me. I've gone to court quite a bit over the years, both because

of my job and because of some volunteer work that I've done involving

child abuse cases. I don't get nervous and I don't mind saying whatever

I have to say in front of whoever is there. Preparation is the key, and

sounding objective so that no one thiks you have some kind of ax to

grind. I've had people confess murders, rapes, assaults, and child

abduction to me. Didn't have to go to court on all of them, tho.

The key difference, as you point out, is that this is a criminal matter

and there is no custodial interrogation of the caller.

-jackie

Jackie McElroy

y Creek Fire Dept.

Walt Disney World, Florida

(I speak for me and only me.)

http://www.reedycreekdispatch.webservepro.com

http://sites.netscape.net/mcjackie/

mailto:mcjackie@...

[Guest guest]

Here in ee County we get numerous requests from

attorney's for copies of dictaphone tapes for court

cases. This saves us having to go in to court all the

time. To date there have only been 10 of us have to

actually go and testify in the recent past about what

was said or what occurred.

--- dsptchmom@... wrote:

> Gonna change the subject line on this... dealing

> with only criminal calls

> (not medical information calls) anything said to a

> dispatcher, whether in

> response to a question or just volunteered is

> admissible into court here in

> Colorado. Because at the time of the call, the

> caller is NOT in custody or

> charged with anything, what they say can and is used

> against them!! I once

> took a 9-1-1 call asking for an ambulance. When I

> asked " why do you need an

> ambulance? " the caller said " I just stabbed my old

> lady 'cause she pushed me

> past my limits " . Unfortunately the woman died and I

> got hauled into court

> because I had received the unsolicited confession.

> It's like a dying

> declaration - person does not need to be in custody

> or Mirandized for it to

> hold up. We're trained that when we get these kind

> of callers, we can ask

> Why? How? Where? etc and it becomes part of the case

> file. I sure didn't

> enjoy going to court and facing a murderer, but it's

> part of the job.

>

> Kathy

>

> In a message dated 8/7/00 10:17:25 PM MDT,

> magictouch@...

> writes:

>

> << Is it feasible that a " non-mirandized

> spontaneous statement " would be a

> waive

> of your rights?

> J. Fred >>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

<< I'm sure it's just a matter of time

though before they pull the tapes and I make my first trip to the courtroom.

>>

Ishhh!!!!! They didn't put the tape into evidence at the time of the call?

Or a copy of it?? Do you still have tapes from January??? I hope you still

have a copy of it somewhere. On major cases, we make a copy of the phone

call as soon as possible after the call was disconnected. since we use DAT

tapes, and get more then one day per tape, we make a copy, sign a form that

states it's a true copy of the master tape and those items go right into

evidence.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Jackie McElroy wrote:

..............snip............

Preparation is the key,

> and

> sounding objective so that no one thiks you have some kind of ax to

> grind. I've had people confess murders, rapes, assaults, and child

> abduction to me. Didn't have to go to court on all of them, tho.

> -jackie

>

> Jackie McElroy

> y Creek Fire Dept.

> Walt Disney World, Florida

> (I speak for me and only me.)

>

Vern Writes:

Jackie is absolutely correct on that statement. I was called to

testify on an incident, which I received and dispatched.. Strange thing

I thought, I was called by the Defense. When I took the stand this young

defense lawyer asked me a few questions then asked me why I appeared to

be so well prepared to testify. Wanted to know if I had read or reviewed

pertinent material, and if so who instructed me to do so. I told him

that I had reviewed my part in the incident. He jumped on that, and

asked why I would do such a thing. I told him I assumed that the person

who called me to testify would want me to know the correct answers. AND

WHO WAS THAT, he asked loudly. This guy was trying to shake me up to

discredit my testimony. I answered his question with a steady " You " .

Even the Judge broke out in laughter. A blushing young lawyer says, " no

more questions " .

Vern

Retired

Served Proudly

[Guest guest]

In our dept overtime via court was a big thing. The way our contract was

worded, if we get called out for duty when not scheduled to work we got a

minimum of 4 hours of overtime, did not matter if we worked 5 min. or 4

hours we got 4 hours. So when we got the call to court we would go sit and

wait for about an hour, they would come out and say the pros. office played

back the tape of your call and that is good enough go home.. In my 5 years

at this department i was called to court a total 48 times, and never took

the stand...but collected the 4 hours overtime for it...

Jim in ohio

>

>Reply-To: 911consoleegroups

>To: 911consoleegroups

>Subject: Re: 911:: spontaneous statements

>Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 09:50:47 -0700 (PDT)

>

>Here in ee County we get numerous requests from

>attorney's for copies of dictaphone tapes for court

>cases. This saves us having to go in to court all the

>time. To date there have only been 10 of us have to

>actually go and testify in the recent past about what

>was said or what occurred.

>

>

>

>--- dsptchmom@... wrote:

> > Gonna change the subject line on this... dealing

> > with only criminal calls

> > (not medical information calls) anything said to a

> > dispatcher, whether in

> > response to a question or just volunteered is

> > admissible into court here in

> > Colorado. Because at the time of the call, the

> > caller is NOT in custody or

> > charged with anything, what they say can and is used

> > against them!! I once

> > took a 9-1-1 call asking for an ambulance. When I

> > asked " why do you need an

> > ambulance? " the caller said " I just stabbed my old

> > lady 'cause she pushed me

> > past my limits " . Unfortunately the woman died and I

> > got hauled into court

> > because I had received the unsolicited confession.

> > It's like a dying

> > declaration - person does not need to be in custody

> > or Mirandized for it to

> > hold up. We're trained that when we get these kind

> > of callers, we can ask

> > Why? How? Where? etc and it becomes part of the case

> > file. I sure didn't

> > enjoy going to court and facing a murderer, but it's

> > part of the job.

> >

> > Kathy

> >

> > In a message dated 8/7/00 10:17:25 PM MDT,

> > magictouch@...

> > writes:

> >

> > << Is it feasible that a " non-mirandized

> > spontaneous statement " would be a

> > waive

> > of your rights?

> > J. Fred >>

> >

>

>

>__________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

About 2 years ago I was testifying in a case where the

drug enforcement officer had stopped a vehicle and

waiting on my response from a III that he had run

during the course of the stop. The defense attorney

was trying say the stop took too long and wanted me to

outline the III that I had run.

The III I ran was in the custody of the deputy who ran

it and he had it locked up so after this defense

attorney finally went through the red tape of getting

it and getting us all to testify at this hearing he

found out that dispatchers who work night shift hate

testifying at 1100 in the morning.

The first question out of his mouth was " do officers

normally run III on stops like the on represented here

today? " And my response was that I was not an officer

and I have no idea. That of course set the guy off

instantly because I would never answer from the

standpoint of an officer....on more than on occasion

during this 15 mins I reminded him I was a dispatcher.

At one point he told me that I must not be a very good

dispatcher if I did not know the habits of my officers

and I stated to him that the habit of my officers is

to go out and arrest dirtbags and put them in jail for

criminal offenses. He objected the Asst District

Attorney and the Judge laughed at him.

When it was all said and done it was a wasted day of

testimony and a very frustrating day for the defense

attorney who was not happy with me at all and wrote a

letter to my boss to complain. My boss had been in the

room and told me he thought I did very well and that

he would stand up for us. Needless to

say....dispatchers have not been called my that

popular defense attorney since.

--- vernon wrote:

>

>

> Jackie McElroy wrote:

> ..............snip............

>

> Preparation is the key,

> > and

> > sounding objective so that no one thiks you have

> some kind of ax to

> > grind. I've had people confess murders, rapes,

> assaults, and child

> > abduction to me. Didn't have to go to court on all

> of them, tho.

> > -jackie

> >

> > Jackie McElroy

> > y Creek Fire Dept.

> > Walt Disney World, Florida

> > (I speak for me and only me.)

> >

> Vern Writes:

> Jackie is absolutely correct on that

> statement. I was called to

> testify on an incident, which I received and

> dispatched.. Strange thing

> I thought, I was called by the Defense. When I took

> the stand this young

> defense lawyer asked me a few questions then asked

> me why I appeared to

> be so well prepared to testify. Wanted to know if I

> had read or reviewed

> pertinent material, and if so who instructed me to

> do so. I told him

> that I had reviewed my part in the incident. He

> jumped on that, and

> asked why I would do such a thing. I told him I

> assumed that the person

> who called me to testify would want me to know the

> correct answers. AND

> WHO WAS THAT, he asked loudly. This guy was trying

> to shake me up to

> discredit my testimony. I answered his question

> with a steady " You " .

> Even the Judge broke out in laughter. A blushing

> young lawyer says, " no

> more questions " .

>

> Vern

> Retired

> Served Proudly

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

> To: 911consoleegroups

>

> Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 05:02:32 -0700 (PDT)

> Reply-to: 911consoleegroups

> Subject: Re: 911:: spontaneous statements

>

>

> The first question out of his mouth was " do officers

> normally run III on stops like the on represented here

> today? " And my response was that I was not an officer

> and I have no idea. That of course set the guy off

> instantly because I would never answer from the

> standpoint of an officer...

--<snip>------

Lawyer 101 will tell you to never ask a question that you do not know

the answer to...

Nick Wagner

Cortland Co. (NY) Sheriff's Dept

E9-1-1 Center/Sr. Supervisor

mailto:nwagner@...