how to beat a confidential informant

To the U.S. government, he was officially informant No. will know how to maneuver in the courtroom and lead a witness to provide information that supports the defenses theory of the case. Should You Work as a Police Confidential Informant? Defense - YouTube Like most people, CI's need motivation to produce, and they commonly identify a specific motive for providing assistance. It often comes to light that things may not be as they seem and this can greatly help your defense. Here are five common factors courts will consider in judging the credibility of a confidential informant: 1. Additionally, using a CI may be an excuse to have probable cause for a search, raid, or arrest when there isnt another probable cause. A simple he-said-she-said backed up with no observations won't be worth much in court. The recording devices used have become very sophisticated and are virtually undetectable. It is possible to beat drug trafficking charges. But he had his reasons for informing on the drug gang. He views himself as a scapegoat and says his bosses at ICE and their bosses in Washington knew all along what Lalo was doing. Dead men tell no tales.1 tilizing confidential informants to obtain incriminating information has been described as "dirty business."2 And it certainly is. Possession, use, administration, acquisition, sale, manufacture or transportation of dangerous drugs; classification. Confidentiality is what makes the informant valuable. Some training courses, available for law enforcement officers, will claim to be able to provide officers with everything they need to know about managing confidential informants, including motivation, in one or two days. Some informants have personalities that make them difficult to manage. The true identity of a confidential informant should be strictly limited to an identified number of people. Here in Mexico, there is no justice, only impunity. xb```Il@r/ 0! Unlike with anonymous tipsters, law enforcement and prosecutors typically have evidence that their CI has lied or been forthright with them and others. CIs are regular folks that provide law enforcement with confidential, possibly damning, information against you. The El Paso Customs office (Customs later became Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE) had never gotten much recognition. Gonzalez lodged a complaint against ICE. How Much Jail Time for Felony Grand Theft? But as that investigation started, ICE's prized snitch came under suspicion. xref he says. Unfortunately, beating a confidential informant presents a particular set of challenges that are not always readily overcome. Bencomo says Lalo was different from other informants. I am not saying my child didnt have a breakdown. When the El Paso DEA office got wind of what was happening, the agent in charge was stunned. and Raul Loya. Contact us immediately for a free consultation where we can discuss the details of your case and how we can help. The majority of informants are those working off . 0000001094 00000 n Payments to informants are a thorny issue for the bureau, because agents know defense lawyers will use the payments to question the credibility of an informant while he or she is testifying . Guadalupe Juarez/AFP/Getty Images For a free legal consultation, call 215.515.3360. PDF The Attorney General'S Guidelines Regarding the Use of - Ignet Please explain why you are flagging this content: * This will flag comments for moderators to take action. The best way to beat the system and stay out of prison is don't break the law. If we want to understand what motivates a confidential informant then we are going to have to understand what motivates people. a confidential informant is a secret source who, through a contact officer, supplies information on criminal activity to the police or law enforcement agent. Typically, the process requires that the confidential informant be thoroughly searched before going into the controlled buy to ensure they are not already in possession of any drugs. He says that the agency's guidelines for using confidential informants are sound. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Experts explain how confidential informants infect the - Inlander This important decision can affect you the rest of your life and possibly even your loved ones or friends. I had to go to the restroom and throw up. Being a CI is a very dangerous, risky endeavor. Exposing the confidential informants identity would spell the end of the governments ability to use that informant again in the future. The Use of 'Confidential Informants' Can Lead to Unnecessary and Is a Confidential Informant Truthful? Saying they have a CI may be a cover for ill-gotten evidence and information. Last Updated: May 3rd, 2022 at 8:20 pm Read Time: 9 Minutes. Skip to content. A Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer at our firm will work tirelessly to protect your rights and your freedom the way we have for other clients. Lawyers who have received peer reviews after 2009 will display more detailed information, including practice areas, summary ratings, detailed numeric ratings and written feedback (if available). However, the above measures are extra insurance for the police, they are not required. hide caption. 6. It is not uncommon in drug cases for prosecutors to use evidence from a controlled buy to support the charges. However, an informant whos been burnt obviously wont be trusted in their typical circles. State House legislators last week overwhelmingly passed a bill that would require Kansas prosecutors to disclose information to defendants about so-called "jailhouse informants.". The information may prove to relate to exculpatory evidence. Once the case was done, ICE was also done with Lalo. "And you have to act like a criminal.". If you are interested in training in relation to motivation or details of our comprehensive human source training programs please get in touch: info@hsmtraining.com We provide the best confidential informant training available. reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Matt provided knowledgeable advice regarding bond arrangements suggesting he get back into his routine immediately since he had been doing so well. If the CI doesnt testify against you but the State uses the evidence from the CI against you, your attorney would need to know how to argue against the admissibility of this information. Drug Informants: Motives, Methods, and Management Understanding motive and motivation. Login. A. The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings process is the gold standard due to its objectivity and comprehensiveness. In the 1960s, a trio of Supreme Court decisions Hoffa v. United States, Lewis v. United States, and Osborn v. United States made clear that police have a relatively free hand to use informants. You may not have enough time to talk to a lawyer about what your options are before deciding whether you want to be a government snitch. The act of sending an e-mail to the Firm or any attorney at the Firm, or submitting a form response or other materials through the website, will not create an attorney-client relationship. Ultimately, Matt was able to negotiate a pretrial diversion program where all charges will be dismissed once my son has completed a 6 month program. Courtesy Texas DMV, U.S. D.O.J. Additionally, the defense can ask the CI that testifies whether they have been offered a plea deal or to drop their charges in exchange for the CIs testimony at trial. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT | Office of Justice Programs If the confidential informants identity is essential to the defendants case, your attorney can file a motion to compel disclosure of the CIs name. To be convicted of drug trafficking charges, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were the individual in control of the drugs and that you knew they were there. hide caption. The CI meets you at a certain place and unknown to you, the police are watching the whole deal. An attorney may help you weigh your options. This decision can affect you and others for the rest of your life. Mexican law enforcement officials load a corpse found at the Juarez drug cartel's House of Death into a truck in January 2004. 0000000016 00000 n Police and prosecutors generally want to keep the identity of their CI a secret. Confidential Informant Testifies as Government Witness. "Right now, I'm just trying to say, 'Don't put me in the hands of the people who are going to try and kill me.' "We stayed there all night and watched as they pulled out bodies," Magana says. It has been dubbed the House of Death. "It just made me sick," he says. The team at Weinstein Legal is here to share information regarding how to beat a drug trafficking charge in the state of Florida. A lock ( He explained to my husband and I what my son was facing. I took the recording and I told my supervisor that I didn't wish to be part of the case. Here are five common factors courts will consider in judging the credibility of a confidential informant: This factor is formally called "veracity," and is used by courts to determine if a CI has a reputation for telling the truth. How to Beat a Drug Trafficking Charge in Florida Bencomo was the only one fired as a result of the Lalo fiasco. Informants nationwide end up beaten, tortured and dead once they're found out. My son got a felony for possession of THC oil, I immediately started looking for legal assistance and was blessed to find Mathew Shafran. This is the first time that Bencomo has talked publicly. For a quick fix solution Wikipedia provides a list of potential motivations. Evidence that a CI has reliably provided accurate information in the past may indicate to the court that he or she is credible. Revealing the CIs identity puts the informant and sometimes their family in great danger due totheir role. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS - Official FBIretired Website It also shows how to gain maximum benefits from using informants while maintaining the integrity of the agencies and investigators who rely on informant information. Criminal defense attorneys have a host of tools to do this. "So where are we going to find any help if we can't trust the U.S.?". This is often the case in former business partners who have been scorned, former lovers, and even individuals who used to be friends but had a falling out. Your access of/to and use You deserve the same chance at having an excellent legal defense. At a Border Patrol checkpoint, Lalo got caught smuggling more than 100 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the wheels of his pickup. Revealing the CIs identity puts the informant and sometimes their family in great danger due to, There might be several unhappy criminals and their associates or family members looking to exact revenge or. The prosecution is not required to reveal CIs in discovery unless knowing their identity is detrimental to the defendants case. In other words, the police claim that your charge will be lessened or maybe even go away if you work as a snitch for the police. Exposing the confidential informants identity would spell the end of the governments ability to use that informant again in the future. The identity of the CI can be necessary to a Defendants defense in their criminal case. The CI may do controlled buys. This means that the CI will have an agreement with the police. Additionally, there are many other rights and freedoms that you stand to lose as the result of a conviction. You may have signed up to be a CI under duress or felt forced into it after the police threatened to lock you up for the rest of your life or arrest other family members involved with drug activity. If you are testifying at trial as a CI, you need an attorney that knows criminal procedure and has experience representing CIs. This is the point in time some potential clients reach out to a criminal defense lawyer for advice. 0000018883 00000 n It may be challenging for law enforcement to prove that you were the source of the narcotics that led to the individuals death and suspicion alone is not enough to convict a person and send them to jail for many years. Motives and Motivations of Confidential Informants We contacted our attorney in the state where we live and he recommended Matt to us. Protecting confidential informant identities -breaches risk lives This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. It should be noted as well that it is very risky and dangerous to put out on social media or in the rumor mill that someone is working as a CI. Bencomo says the agents were told that Santillan was the No. With every new body, the smell would hit us it was horrible. In a court case, the prosecution must disclose any evidence and witnesses they have against the defense during a discovery process. 0000001273 00000 n Copyright 2023 Law Offices of M.J. Snyder, LLC | All Rights Reserved. While we continue to believe that the motives of a confidential informant can be summarized in one or two words, for example, fear, money or a reduced sentence, our interactions with them will always remain superficial and be fraught with risk. Answer (1 of 5): The first thing you need to do is know your enemy. It hit me like cold water in the face; it just feels terrible. Attention is given to forms, reports, records, and files that are the foundation of the information gathering and control procedures. NPR obtained an internal agency memo written in May 2004 that clearly prohibits using informants who commit crimes. Yes, a felon can be an informant. In a court case, the prosecution must disclose any evidence and witnesses they have against the defense during a discovery process. Contact Susan Williams today for a free consultation. Learning the Identity of a Confidential Informant - Nolo If law enforcement learns otherwise, all deals or hopes of deals could be off between the Government and the CI. The required areas are criminal justice, law enforcement, police science, etc. Becoming an Informant | Office of Justice Programs Lalo said his actions were necessary to maintain his cover. Guadalupe Juarez/AFP/Getty Images 142 0 obj<>stream Possibly, yes. Members of Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigations excavate the yard at the House of Death after two bodies were found there. Identifying an informants true motives for providing information increases the chances of maximizing the quality and quantity of information they provide and being able to conduct an effective criminal investigation while at the same time , keeping everyone involved safe. The government does not have the resources or time to do this. For this analysis, as is often the case, OSI recruits a CI, tasks the CI to collect information on the accused's use of a controlled substance, and then obtains information about the accused's use of a controlled substance at an off-base party. This rating signifies that a large number of the lawyers peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards. The content of the responses is entirely from reviewers. Additionally, if a person dies as a result of your drug supply you may face a much longer sentence and possible manslaughter or homicide charges as well. That meant Lalo was to go and get the house ready, because someone was going to be brought there and be killed. You cant enforce these agreements or conversations. There are basically three types of informants: those who agree to cooperate with the police in exchange for favorable treatment in their own cases; those who inform in exchange for money; and citizen-informants who inform out of a sense of civic duty. 5 Factors Courts Will Consider. You must have an associate's degree and a bachelor's degree in the relevant areas. He also helped crack a major international cigarette smuggling ring. The killings in Juarez took place more than six years ago. The monograph is organized around the confidential informant's employment . In fact, Lalo secretly recorded the first murder and admitted that he held the victim's legs while the man was being brutally strangled, suffocated and beaten with a shovel. But it wasn't just the people of Juarez who were outraged. Confidential informants, will have always have their own agendas and will sometimes be motivated to lie and obstruct justice while claiming to be help. "Had management been fully informed, we could have implemented strategies and taken a different tack that would have ultimately safeguarded more lives," he says. On the other hand, when law enforcement fails to follow proper procedures, then credibility becomes an issue that can be used to defend against these charges. The amount of a drug for which trafficking charges are applicable varies depending on the substance. Whether or not the top brass knew about all of Lalo's exploits, there is no denying they used him to nab a Juarez drug lord and lock him away. Courtesy Raul Loya This is something that can be used to impeach him when he testifies. Ashok Dhamija Among the victims were two U.S. residents. Similarly, if you borrow a friend or family members car to run errands around town and law enforcement pulls you over, searches the vehicle, and finds illegal drugs hidden inside yet you did not know they were there, it may also be challenging to convict you. No, the identity of informants are not public record. I couldn't believe it," says the DEA's Sandalio Gonzalez. Call 954-845-0505 today. The CI is not really taken to jail or if the CI is taken to jail, the CI is released later. My reservations were quickly eased during my initial consultation. Visit https://www.gustitislaw.com for more information about inform. However, this does not have to be the case. Criminal Defense Attorney in Philadelphia. All these only go to reinforce stereotypes. Our firm serves clients in local communities including Birmingham City, Irondale, Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood, Hoover, Pelham, Alabaster, and Helena.

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