TO:

All Pidd

R.. ,

66P,HQ-1283f88-3, 3/23/2006

sr<l

O~ticee

Prom,

OUice ot the General Couneel

When deciding whether to ..xerci... this di.cr.. tion, SACe
to consider the following fsctora:

encourag~

1) Whe~her the purpose of the interview 1a to gather
evid..nce for proaecution, or intelligenc.. for analysi., or both;
2) If prosscution is snticipated, the type and
.eriouBness of the cri , including, in p.o.rticular, whether th..
crine haa a mental ..le nt l.uch a. knowledge or intent to
defraud), proof of which would be coneiderably aided by the
defendant'. admis.ione in his own words;
3) Whether the defendant'B own worde and appearance (in
video recording.) would h..lp rebut any doubt about the
voluntarine•• of hie conf.. nion rlI.i ...d by hi" age, mentlll ntate.
educstionlll level, or und.. retanding of the English IllngUag.. ; or
is otherwiee ..xpected to be lln issue at trilll, such as to r ..but
an inaanity d..f ..uee; Or may be of value to behavioral analysts;
the

A) Th.. sufficiency of oth..r availabl .. evidence to prove
beyond II reasonabl .. doub~;

c~~rge

S} The prefer..nce of the United States Attorney'"
Office and th.. Pederal District Court regaroing recorded
=nfeallionll;
6) Local lawlI and practie~--particularly in task force
inventigaeionll whorll etate proll..cution i . pollsible,
7) Whether interview" with othor subject" in the .."'"
or relllted elise, have been el..ctronically recorded,
a) Th" pot.. ntial to use the subj..ct a. a cooperating
witn"lIs and t~~ vlllue of ulling hi. own word. to elicit hi.
coop.. rlltion;
.
9) Practiclli eQ~sid..ratiQns--.uch •• the expected
length of tho interview; tho availability of rocording equipment
and. transcription land, i f necenary, trsn"lation) service", and
the ti .... and available "eou"ce. required to obtain the". If
cost facto". prove prohibitive, consider Wheth.. r t~~ r ..questing
U.s. ~ttorney's Office will agr..e to pay for the servic....
The.e faetora IIhould not b.. vi ..wed all a checklist and
are not int..nded to limit th" SAC's di.c"tion. rt i.
recogni.od, however, thllt establishing r.allonable etandards on
the type ot calle., cri~~e, circ~~t..nces, and subjects for which
recordinSi i. a deBirabl .. objective so all to .....intain internal
fi ..ld offic.. consistency and to inform field agont. and
supervisors when lind why to requellt recording .

•
0,1,0000001530

To:

Re:

All I"idd OHicee Pro",: Offiee of the
66P-HQ-1183488_3, 3/13/1006

Gene~al

Counsel

Pield office standard. are to be encouraged for ar.cther
very ilf.portant realJOn. The abeence of any atandard by which
field office di.cretion in thi. matter i. exerciaed will render
teatifying asenta VUlnerable to attack On croes-examination. If,
on the other h~d, an agent can point to identifiable atandarda
that provide a reaBonable explanation for why aome in~erviawe are
recorded and othera are not, the implication that the agent chose
not to record an interview to ~sk the involuntary nature of the
defendant's admiaaions wl1,l be much harder to argue.' ThiIJ oftice
i8 prepared to assist in the preparation of euch etandards if
desired.
Finally, in order to aaaiHt agent. who teetify to
un..ecorded admiasionB, a,1. AXplanation of this policy and the
reasOna behind it ahould be added to field office quarterly legal
training. Oueatior~ may be directed to Assistant General Counsel
Jung-Won Choi, at the O~~ice of the General Counael,
InVestigative Law Unit, at 101-324-9615 .

• Carrying thi_ poin~ further. i~ ~"ld h4 avon _a_ier '0 with_tand
• ...,.. _ _ir.adon H a UUd poll"Y u to ""_n to ...cord fond wha" not to
record we.e e_tebli_had a' PHI Bea~rt_r_ .b.~ p.roU~. DO fiel~ of rica or
as"'ot di.oreUo". Yet, .~oll an a.wontasa would be rar off nt by tllo lo... cf
nexibiUty .lIao Held cHico ~lI.C, ond ."POrvJ..oro "a.d to 1D&l<• • O\ltld
inv. . . igoU". <ie<:hicno .uch a. tho choice or in •• rviowbg tooehni'l"u.

,

DAGD00001631

To:

All Field Offices

Re,

66F-HO-1283488-3, 3/23/2006

set Lead

1,

Prom:

Office of the

~neral

CounBel

(A~t1.. nl

ALL RECEIYING OFFICES

.
DiB.e~inate to all personnel.
The CDC of each field
'office should be the principal point of contact for this Be and
should prQVide a briefing to tho agents in hi. or her'office
consistent vith this Be .

••
caproni

1

Mil.

1

Mr. Kelley
Mll. Gulya. .y
14'1. Thomas

1
1
1

1
1

2

M".

LIln:f!lllrt

Mr. Larson
,Mr. Oloi

ILU

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