North Carolina General Statutes 15A-985. Corroboration of in-custody informant statement
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 15A-985
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, Internet, or similar capabilities. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1
- Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(a) Definition. – As used in this section, the term “in-custody informant” means a person, other than a codefendant, accomplice, or coconspirator, whose testimony is based on statements allegedly made by the defendant while both the defendant and the informant were held within a city or county jail or a State correctional institution or otherwise confined, where statements relate to offenses that occurred outside of the confinement.
(b) Recording of In-Custody Informant Interview. – All interviews of in-custody informants by a law enforcement officer shall be recorded using a visual recording device that provides an authentic, accurate, unaltered, and uninterrupted record of the interview that clearly shows both the interviewer and the in-custody informant. This subsection shall not apply to attorneys for the State or defense conducting an interview as part of trial preparation.
(c) Destruction or Modification of Recording After Appeals Exhausted. – The State shall not destroy or alter any electronic recording of an in-custody informant interview until one year after the completion of all State and federal appeals of the conviction, including the exhaustion of any appeal of any motion for appropriate relief or habeas corpus proceedings. Every electronic recording shall be clearly identified and catalogued by law enforcement personnel. (2023-74, s. 4(a).)