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A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a
witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...
for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or
immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...
.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized Crime'' (9th ed: Cengage Learning, 2010), p. 368. The testimony of a witness who testifies against co-conspirator(s) may be important
evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...
. According to a 2008
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French language, French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention ...
document, persons who turn state's evidence "are known by a variety of names, including cooperating witnesses, crown witnesses, snitches, witness collaborators, justice collaborators, state witnesses, 'supergrasses', macarons and (Italian for 'those who have repented')."


United Kingdom

In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the
Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the ...
, the term is to turn Queen's or King's evidence, depending on the sex of the reigning monarch. The term "turning approver" or "turn king's approver" was also historically used, especially in Ireland; an approver "not only admitted his own guilt to a crime but also incriminated his accomplices both past and present" in exchange for avoiding a
death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
(and obtaining a lesser penalty, such as
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
or abjuration of the realm) or improving prison conditions. It has its origins in the 16th century, and allowed a person to become a crown witness and avoid pleading guilty. Even at this early stage, the courts saw crown witness testimony as less reliable than other evidence, because it was encouraged in return for better treatment before the law. In 1751, regulations were introduced, stipulating that crown witness testimony should be corroborated with independent, third-party evidence. Crown witnesses known as supergrasses were used during the Northern Ireland conflict. In the 1980s, about 30 members of paramilitary groups (both
loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
and republican) gave the authorities evidence against their former comrades in exchange for a more lenient sentence (or immunity from prosecution), as well as a new identity to protect them from retribution. Supergrass testimony was used, for example, in trials against IRA members.


United States

American courts adopted English common-law practices relating to witnesses turning state's evidence, "and expanded them to include leniency agreements as well as immunity agreements." In American parlance, a defendant who agrees to cooperate with prosecutors and give information against co-conspirators (often those with greater culpability) is also said to ''flip''. Witnesses who have turned state's evidence have been important in
organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
cases in the United States, such as those against the
American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to ...
. The first ''mafiosi'' who turned state's evidence, such as
Joseph Valachi Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who was the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited with the ...
and Jimmy Fratianno, did so in response to threats on their life from Mafia associates; later cooperators were motivated to cooperate in order to avoid heavy sentences, such as those provided for under the
RICO Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...
. Some who turned state's evidence were permitted to participate in the
Witness Security Program The United States Federal Witness Protection Program (WPP), also known as the Witness Security Program or WITSEC, is a witness protection program codified through 18 U.S. Code § 3521 and administered by the United States Department of Justice ...
(WITSEC). Among the highest-ranking Mafia members to turn state's evidence was Salvatore Gravano ("Sammy the Bull"), an
underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...
of the
Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...
who pleaded guilty to 19 murders and agreed to testify against family boss John Gotti; as a result, Gravano was sentenced to 5 years and Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992.
Joseph Massino Joseph Charles Massino (January 10, 1943 – September 14, 2023) was an American mobster. He was a member of the American Mafia, Mafia and Crime boss, boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of ...
was also the first boss of one of the
Five Families The Five Families refer to five American Mafia, Italian American Mafia Crime family, crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were Organized crime, organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the C ...
in New York City to turn state's evidence.Raab, p. 688.


Germany

A crown witness style system has operated in Germany since the RAF trials in the 1970s. The Justice Minister at that time, Diether Posser, wanted to enable witnesses to testify in return for a lenient sentence if there was little chance of successfully prosecuting a criminal. Four attempts were made to introduce the system to anti-terror legislation, but it was not included in the 1976 legislation. Additionally, Germany lacked a witness protection program such as that found in the United States; Ulrich Schmücker was murdered after he informed on his former associates in the 2 June Movement. Another crown witness, Karl-Heinz Ruhland, recanted his testimony against the Baader–Meinhof Group, as he initially did not receive protection from the state. The treatment crown witnesses received at this time was viewed as illegal by the media, but necessary by the prosecution. In 1981, Germany introduced a "small crown witness rule" in drug-related trials which permitted a lower sentence for witnesses who turned state's evidence. In 1989, during the Government of
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...
, Germany introduced a law effectively called the "crown witness rule" which enabled witnesses in terror related cases to turn state's evidence. Initially only valid until 1992, it was extended several times until it was abolished in 1999. A law adopted in 2000 lowered the sentence of a witness who came to an agreement with the prosecution in trials concerning money-laundering, but it was not called a crown witness rule. In 2009 a new crown witness rule came into force and since then, witnesses in a wider range of cases have been allowed to become a crown witnesses.


Prisoner's dilemma

The incentives to turn state's evidence, or to not to do so, are explored in the famous
prisoner's dilemma The prisoner's dilemma is a game theory thought experiment involving two rational agents, each of whom can either cooperate for mutual benefit or betray their partner ("defect") for individual gain. The dilemma arises from the fact that while def ...
, created by Merrill Flood and
Melvin Dresher Melvin Dresher (born Dreszer; March 13, 1911 – June 4, 1992) was a Poland, Polish-born United States, American mathematician, notable for developing, alongside Merrill M. Flood, Merrill Flood, the game theory, game theoretical model of cooperat ...
.Robert D. Behn, ''Rethinking Democratic Accountability'' (Brookings Institution Press, 2001), pp. 47–48.


See also

*
Informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
*
Plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...
*''
Pentito ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
'', the equivalent term in Italy in the Mafia and terrorism contexts


References


Further reading

* H. Lloyd King Jr.
Why Prosecutors are Permitted to Offer Witness Inducements: A Matter of Constitutional Authority
29 Stetson L. Rev. 155 (1999). {{Authority control Informal legal terminology Criminal law * Testimony