TY - JOUR
T1 - The truth about snitches
T2 - an archival analysis of informant testimony
AU - Neuschatz, Jeffrey S.
AU - DeLoach, Danielle K.
AU - Hillgartner, Megan A.
AU - Fessinger, Melanie B.
AU - Wetmore, Stacy A.
AU - Douglass, Amy B.
AU - Bornstein, Brian H.
AU - Le Grand, Alexis M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Innocence Project or Winston and Strawn, who provided case documentation. The dataset presented in this paper was also used in another paper submitted for publication in a law review: Melanie B. Fessinger, Brian H. Bornstein, Jeffrey S. Neuschatz, Danielle K. DeLoach, Megan A. Hillgartner, Stacy A. Wetmore, and Amy Bradfield Douglass, Informants v. Innocents: Informant Testimony and its Contribution to Wrongful Convictions (forthcoming and available from the authors). The analysis and presentation of the data between the two papers is distinct. The authors would like to thank Daniel Robertson, Alexa Mecikalski, Jake Davis, Matthew Ameduri, Sanah Hasan, McKenzie Aldean, Sydney Bebar, Caroline Yank, Hannah Kaufmann and Cassidy Tiberi for their tireless efforts in coding the trial transcripts.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Informants are witnesses who often testify in exchange for an incentive (i.e. jailhouse informant, cooperating witness). Despite the widespread use of informants, little is known about the circumstances surrounding their use at trial. This study content-analyzed trials from 22 DNA exoneration cases involving 53 informants. Because these defendants were exonerated, the prosecution informant testimony is demonstrably false. Informant characteristics including motivation for testifying, criminal history, relationship with the defendant and testimony were coded. Most informants were prosecution jailhouse informants; however, there were also defence jailhouse informants and prosecution cooperating witnesses. Regardless of informant type, most denied receiving an incentive, had criminal histories, were friends/acquaintances of the defendant and had testimonial inconsistencies. In closing statements, attorneys relied on informant testimony by either emphasizing or questioning its reliability. The impact of informant testimony on jurors’ decisions is discussed in terms of truth-default theory (TDT), the fundamental attribution error and prosecutorial vouching.
AB - Informants are witnesses who often testify in exchange for an incentive (i.e. jailhouse informant, cooperating witness). Despite the widespread use of informants, little is known about the circumstances surrounding their use at trial. This study content-analyzed trials from 22 DNA exoneration cases involving 53 informants. Because these defendants were exonerated, the prosecution informant testimony is demonstrably false. Informant characteristics including motivation for testifying, criminal history, relationship with the defendant and testimony were coded. Most informants were prosecution jailhouse informants; however, there were also defence jailhouse informants and prosecution cooperating witnesses. Regardless of informant type, most denied receiving an incentive, had criminal histories, were friends/acquaintances of the defendant and had testimonial inconsistencies. In closing statements, attorneys relied on informant testimony by either emphasizing or questioning its reliability. The impact of informant testimony on jurors’ decisions is discussed in terms of truth-default theory (TDT), the fundamental attribution error and prosecutorial vouching.
KW - cooperating witness
KW - jailhouse informant
KW - secondary confessions
KW - truth-default theory
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U2 - 10.1080/13218719.2020.1805810
DO - 10.1080/13218719.2020.1805810
M3 - Article
C2 - 35558148
AN - SCOPUS:85096181458
VL - 28
SP - 508
EP - 530
JO - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
JF - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
SN - 1321-8719
IS - 4
ER -