A Recorded Interrogation
CPL § 60.45 — the entire interrogation video recorded at a detention facility for the most serious felonies
Which interrogations. Where a person is subject to custodial interrogation at a detention facility, the entire interrogation, including the advice of rights and any waiver, is recorded by video if it involves a class A-1 felony other than one defined in article two hundred twenty of the penal law, or certain sex offenses and class B violent felonies the section names.
Not suppressed for that alone. A statement is not subject to a motion to suppress based solely on the failure to record. But where the people offer an unrecorded statement about one of those offenses, the court considers the failure to record as a factor, though not the sole factor, in deciding whether it is admissible.
- The recording equipment malfunctions, or is in use elsewhere.
- The statement answers routine arrest processing questions, or is spontaneous.
- The interviewer was unaware a qualifying offense had occurred.
- The suspect could not be brought to the interview room.
- The suspect refused to take part if recorded, and the refusal was documented.
- The failure was an inadvertent error, not intentional conduct.
Those are among the kinds of good cause the prosecutor may show for a custodial interrogation not being recorded.
Whether questioning was a custodial interrogation, and what follows from a missing recording in a particular case, are questions of fact and law for a licensed New York attorney. Miranda and the voluntariness of a statement are separate questions this page does not cover.
Sources for this section (1)
- CPL § 60.45 — Statements of defendants, and video recorded interrogations
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New York attorney.