State v. Castillo-Alvarez

I agree with the court that neither Minn.Stat. § 609.045 (2012) nor the Minnesota Constitution bar the prosecution of Castillo-Alvarez in the State of Minnesota. I write separately to explain why the court is incorrect in concluding that our decision in State v. Scales, 518 N.W.2d 587 (Minn. 1994), does not apply to the admission of Castillo-Alvarez’s unrecorded statement. However, because I conclude that the Scales violation here was not substantial, I concur in the result only.

I

In Scales, we held that “all custodial interrogation ... shall be electronically recorded where feasible and must…