Advanced Criminal Law :: West Memphis 3
Professor James R. Elkins College of Law
West Virginia University |Spring|2011|

Snitch Testimony

I. Background Readings

Jailhouse Snitch Testimony: A Policy Review
The Justice Project, Washington, D.C

Snitch
PBS Frontline Documentary

The Snitch System
Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern University School of Law

Secret Justice: Criminal Informants and America’s Underground Legal System
Professor Alexandra Natapoff, Prison Legal News

Jailhouse Snitches; Trading Lies for Freedom
Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1989

II. Pretrial Discovery

Memo: Discovery in Cases Involving Informants
The Public Defender Service, District of Columbia

III. Pretrial Hearing on Informant Reliability

Beyond Unreliable: How Snitches Contribute to Wrongful Convictions
[Professor Alexandra Natapoff; article includes a "Motion to Exclude Cooperating Witness Testimony and Request for a Reliability Hearing"]

Snitch Motion
Motion to Exclude Cooperating Witness Testimony and Request for a Reliability Hearing

IV. Motion to Preclude Creation of Snitch Testimony

Motion Requesting Snitch Reliability Hearing
State of Kansas v. Longoria

V. Expert Testimony on Jailhouse Snitches

Respose to Government's Opposition to Expert Testimony Regarding Jailhouse Snitches U.S. v. Guandique (Sup.Ct., D.C., 2009)

VI. Cross Examination of the Snitch

Here's How: To Handle the Snitch at Trial
Jeffrey W. Jensen, criminal defense lawyer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Preparation for Cross-Examination of the Snitch
Michael G. Howell, Capital Defender, Durham, North Carolina

VII. Confidential Informants & Jailhouse Informant Testimony Guidelines

Recommendation on Jailhouse Informant Testimony
Section on Criminal Justice, American Bar Association

Guidelines for Florida State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies in Dealing With Confidential Informants adopted by the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Florida Sheriffs Association, State Law Enforcement Chiefs Association, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, March, 2009

Department of Justice Guidelines Regarding the Use of Confidential Informants
Attorney General Janet Reno, January 8, 2001 [The 2001 guidelines may have been superceded with the following: Attorney General's Guidelines]

The Attorney General's Guidelines Regarding the Use of Confidential Informants
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Compliance with the Attorney General's Investigative Guidelines (Redacted), Special Report, September 2005, Office of the Inspector General

VIII. Law Review Articles

C. Blaine Elliott, Life's Uncertainties: How to Deal with Cooperating Witnesses and Jailhouse Snitches, 16 Cap. Def. J. 1 (2003)

George C. Harris, Testimony for Sale: The Law and Ethics of Snitches and Experts, 28 Pepp. L. Rev. 1 (2000)

Peter A. Joy, Brady and Jailhouse Informants: Responding to Injustice, 57 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 619 (2007)

Alexandra Natapoff, Beyond Unreliable: How Snitches Contribute to Wrongful Convictions, 37 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 107 (2006) [on-line text]

__________________, Snitching: The Institutional and Communal Consequences [on-line text]

Steven S. Trott, Words of Warning for Prosecutors Using Criminals as Witnesses, 47 Hastings L.J. 1381 (1996)

IX. Books

Ethan Brown, Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice (Public Affairs, 2007)

Alexandra Natapoff, Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice (NYU Press, 2009)

X. Blogs

Snitching Blog
Professor Alexandra Natapoff: "a comprehensive resource on criminal informants: legal developments, legislation, news stories, cultural reactions, commentary and more...."

[Snitch Testimony] [Informants-Snitches|Innocence Project] [Innocence Project]

The Snitch System]

XI. Reports

Report of the 1989-90 Los Angeles County Grand Jury
Investigation of the Involvement of Jail House Informants in the Criminal Justice System in Los Angeles County || 153 pgs.

XII. Tony Sera :: YouTube videos

[Tony Serra, a radical lawyer :: YouTube video on his career in attacking snitch testimony: part1 :: part2] [on Tony Serra] [Tony Serra in court] [Tony Serra on closing argument] [Tony Serra interview]

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