But once the formality is satisfied, it is almost guaranteed that the defendants' statements will be admissible into evidence.
Last week, an American federal judge dismissed criminal charges against five guards charged in the shooting because of irregularities in the way prosecutors gathered the defendants' statements.
She continued: "The significant weaknesses in the defendants' statements lie in the details they provide in describing the attack on the jogger".
Ms. Gill said in a telephone interview that the defendants' statements of guilt seemed rehearsed, and very little other evidence was presented.
He points out that the wound evidence, the appearance of the apartment and the inconsistencies in the defendants' statements were all thoroughly aired.
In 2001, four Qaeda operatives were convicted of participating in the same conspiracy; in that trial, prosecutors were able to use three of the defendants' statements, made to the F.B.I., in which they incriminated themselves in the plot.
"It remains to be seen whether the Securities and Exchange Commission will be able to convince a jury that defendants' statements were indeed misleading and material," Judge Walter said in his decision.
The $500,000 project, based on a similar system in Largo, Fla., will give police officers in two Brooklyn precincts digital cameras and video recorders to photograph victims' injuries and record defendants' statements.
Last week, in California, two plaintiffs, Rob Stutzman and Jonathan Wheeler, filed a class-action lawsuit against Armstrong, as well as the publishers Penguin and Random House, alleging that, according to the filing, they "were misled by Defendants' statements and purchased Defendant Armstrong's books based upon the false belief that they were true and honest works of nonfiction".
So why, then, have the commission prosecutors refused to explain why the defendants' statements meet those strict criteria?
