False Accusations
Unfortunately, too many people are willing to lie and falsely accuse others of horrible crimes. This happens for many reasons… Maybe it’s an act of revenge or perhaps it’s about gaining leverage? And sometimes it’s about monetary incentives.
Our criminal justice system uses paid informants and jailhouse snitches to prosecute crime all the time. Although this utilizes testimony and information from known criminals, it often yields accurate results. But, as innocence projects have discovered, there are many times when informants implicate the innocent by fabricating evidence.
During a criminal trial, the prosecution is supposed to disclose any incentives that might entice such witnesses. This allows juries to evaluate the sincerity of their testimony. Incentives are not limited to cash. Jailhouse snitches can be rewarded with extra privileges in prison, a reduced sentence, and/or favorable mentions during parole hearings.
The difficulty with non-cash incentives is that they are difficult to track. And so a prosecutor may not be aware that the witness is being rewarded. This is especially true when there are unspoken or informal quid-pro-quos. In those kinds of arrangements, criminal informants might disclose information in the hopes that law enforcement will later reciprocate with favorable treatment if they get arrested. Or alternatively, that informant could be looking to rid themselves of competition by getting their rivals arrested. In either scenario, no official deal is arranged but both parties know what the other wants.
Without a formal agreement, it is impossible to know how motivated an informant might be. And that means a jury is without key information. Lastly, when a case is weak, sometimes a prosecutor will use a jailhouse snitch to push their prosecution over the finish line.
How weak a case might be is not disclosed by the prosecutor and so a jury will not know how badly the prosecution needs that paid witness. And once again, the jury is without critical information to make their decision. At this time, we have no idea how many innocent people are behind bars due to false accusations.
For more on this subject, tune into the episode above, hosted by Michael Semanchik and featuring California Innocence Project founder Justin Brooks, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, and former Investigator Detective Gregory McKnight.
Special thanks to our sponsor Clio – Cloud-Based Legal Technology.
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