Judge disgusted by Oswego police tactics
BY DAVE PARRO
A Kendall County judge threw out a vital piece of evidence last week against Sandra Vasquez, ruling that the conduct of Oswego police officers while obtaining a videotaped confession in the hospital was "offensive." Two other statements made by the alleged drunken driver in the Oswego crash will be allowed, but the ruling was certainly a defeat for prosecutors.
Essentially, the judge didn't like the way police read Vasquez her Miranda rights and conducted their questioning. They rattled off her rights quickly, told Vasquez she was simply taking part in a question-and-answer session -- rather than an interrogation -- and didn't get her consent to be videotaped. They also didn't back off when Vasquez asked them to stop.
Interestingly, the two oral statements Vasquez made before she was read her rights are admissible -- in which she admits to drinking and being the driver in the crash that killed five teenagers -- while those made after she was read her rights were thrown out. The difference is that Vasquez was not yet considered a suspect when she first started talking to police, so her statements are considered voluntary.
Judge Thomas Mueller, who reviewed the inadmissible tape privately, said, "I found the conduct of police to be fairly offensive to this court." That's an embarrassment to the Oswego Police Department, which should have used extra caution in gathering evidence given the magnitude of what happened. By the time the tape was rolling, five hours after the Feb. 11 crash, they already knew four teens were dead and had zeroed in on Vasquez as the driver.
A clearly disgusted Mueller took particular exception to the deception officers used in telling Vasquez that they were basically only chatting about the crash. "That's what the court finds particularly offensive," he said. "That was an interrogation. She was clearly a suspect in a very, very serious case."
The next court date is set for Nov. 19, when Mueller is expected to rule on the defense motion to suppress as evidence a bag of clothing defense attorneys said was taken from Vasquez's hospital room without a warrant or her consent. If Mueller starts to sense a pattern of illegal evidence-gathering, prosecutors could be in for another setback.
Comments
Oswego cops only know how to write tickets for no seat belts. Maybe they should get a new cheif and start fixing the problems with that department.
Posted by: Joe Blow | November 3, 2007 10:08 AM
OPD is trained to enforce seat belt violations and speeding. They need to be re-trained on Miranda rights and the use of non-lethal force. With all the traffic stops they make, one has to wonder if OPD is over-staffed ?
Posted by: MR. X | December 5, 2007 12:22 PM