April 23, 2001
(NEW BALTIMORE, Mich.) – A prosecutor in rural Michigan where two teenagers recanted murder confessions would like police in his jurisdiction to tape interrogations.
Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga suggests that tape- or video-recording protects police from claims that suspects were pressured into false admissions.
Jonathan Kaled and Frank Kuecken were released from jail last week after another teen confessed to killing Justin Mello, who was shot at the pizzeria where he worked. Kaled and Kuecken claim that they were bullied by police during hours of interrogation.
Marlinga cannot order all police departments in the county to use taping.