Informants
There are many instances where an informant or jailhouse snitch testified against the defendant that is eventually proved to be innocent.
Often, statements from informants which have incentives to testify – particularly incentives that are not disclosed to the jury – are the central evidence in convicting an innocent person.
People have been wrongfully convicted in cases in which snitches:
- Have been offered money or paid to testify
- Have testified in exchange for their release from prison or so that they can have their charges lowered or dropped.
- Have testified in multiple distinct cases that they have evidence of guilt, through overhearing a confession or witnessing the crime.
DNA exonerations in the USA have shown that snitches lie on the stand. To many, this news isn’t a surprise.
Testifying falsely in exchange for an incentive – either money or a sentence reduction – is often the last resort for a desperate inmate. For someone who is not in prison already, but who wants to avoid being charged with a crime, providing snitch testimony may be the only option.
