Inside an Interrogation of a Scared Teen

After a trial court judge suppressed a teenager's confession in her trial for smothering her infant, David Boeri, a reporter for WBUR, a public radio station in Boston, petitioned to get the DVDs or the interrogation. It took several months, but the judge issued an order in September, and in December, WBUR aired a two-part report, "Anatomy of a Bad Confession." Today, NPR aired a lengthy story (though not as lengthy as what WBUR aired). Here are links:

• David Boeri, How a Teen's Coerced Confession Set Her Free, All Things Considered, Jan 2, 2012
• David Boeri, Anatomy of a Bad Confession, Part 1, WBUR, Dec. 7, 2011
• Anatomy Of A Bad Confession, Part 2, WBUR, Dec. 8, 2011
• video – excerpts from the interrogation, plus recent interview with the defendant, Nga Truong, and reflections by the reporter, David Boeri.
• Commonwealth v. Truong, Feb. 25, 2011, the opinion suppressing the confession
• Boeri's motion seeking the recordings
• decision and order granting the motion

Hearing (or viewing) the questioning is much more vivid the reading a discussion of a coercive interrogation in an appellate opinion. This is very valuable reporting.