Another common cause of wrongful conviction is the State’s use of, and the courts’ willingness to indulge, the testimonies of “snitches”—or witnesses who have some favor to gain by testifying for the state against a defendant. Often snitches will testify to “lighten [their] loads” (get reductions in sentences or better confinement conditions) or for monetary […]
Exonerating the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices
Snitch Testimony
Another common cause of wrongful conviction is the State’s use of, and the courts’ willingness to indulge, the testimonies of “snitches”—or witnesses who have some favor to gain by testifying for the state against a defendant. Often snitches will testify to “lighten [their] loads” (get reductions in sentences or better confinement conditions) or for monetary gain. Sometimes snitches have scores to settle with particular defendants.