0000000016 00000 n A conviction can have far-reaching negative impacts on your life and you stand to lose quite a few freedoms. If you have questions about how a confidential informant may affect your case, consult an experienced criminal defense lawyer near you. 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. However, an informant whos been burnt obviously wont be trusted in their typical circles. The Drug Enforcement Administration blacklisted him. He views himself as a scapegoat and says his bosses at ICE and their bosses in Washington knew all along what Lalo was doing. 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. Often paper trails will be used to support an informant\'s version of events, such as cell phone and travel records. I would recommend Justin without reservation to anyone seeking representation. "It hit me like cold water in the face; it just feels terrible. My son got a felony for possession of THC oil, I immediately started looking for legal assistance and was blessed to find Mathew Shafran. A confidential informant, casually called a "snitch," is a person who tells the police about suspected criminals and tells them everything he or she knows about said suspect. Contact us immediately for a free consultation where we can discuss the details of your case and how we can help. "What is wrong with this picture?". PDF Confidential Informants: Protecting Their Identity Beating a Confidential Informant Before a Trial Generally, informants may enjoy more protection from being identified or forced to testify in court than other laypeople. This site is protected by If a confidential informant can be used against you; Whether and when the identity of a confidential informant has to be disclosed; How a confidential informant can hurt your case; and. for the objects of police raids if things go awry. Mexican law enforcement officials load a corpse found at the Juarez drug cartel's House of Death into a truck in January 2004. in the former, a crime is reported to the police and an investigation is initiated; in the latter . How to beat a confidential informant - Quora The best way to beat the system and stay out of prison is don't break the law. Exposing the confidential informants identity would spell the end of the governments ability to use that informant again in the future. Additionally, using a CI may be an excuse to have probable cause for a search, raid, or arrest when there isnt another probable cause. Confidential Informants can never be 100% protected by the Government or anyone else. Counter-Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, Intelligence Management and Intelligence Led Policing, Expert testimony -Confidential Informant Management, The Human Source Management System (confidential informant book), Human Sources - Managing Confidential Informants, FREE: Intelligence Led Policing - Training Literature, FREE Deploying undercover officers or confidential informants into places of worshipNew Page, Free: Dealing with Domestic Violence: A guide for Police Officers, Motives and Motivations of Confidential Informants, Why - Understanding Motive and Motivation. "This is not an appropriate case to comment on, because the procedures that we implemented weren't followed.". According to documents obtained by NPR, Lalo kept his ICE handlers informed of the murders piling up in Juarez. Our son had been in substance abuse treatment for almost My son, a student at the University of Miami, was facing 2 serious drug related felonies. The CI may do controlled buys. This means that the CI will have an agreement with the police. Then, at trial, the Government calls the . This is something that can be used to impeach him when he testifies. In hindsight, Bencomo says, the pot in the pickup should have been a warning sign. Law enforcement will often corroborate a CI's information with consistent observations by officers. Copyright 2022 Susan E. Williams, Summerville, SC, All Rights Reserved. The definition of drug trafficking in Florida, according to the state legislature, is: Any person who knowingly sells, purchases, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of a controlled substance over a certain weight/amount or under certain circumstances. These guys are El Paso's version of the Keystone Kops," Loya says. During several phone conversations with NPR last fall, Lalo insisted on speaking only Spanish. Your access of/to and use Answer (1 of 5): The first thing you need to do is know your enemy. 0000001712 00000 n CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT | Office of Justice Programs "And you have to act like a criminal.". 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. There are several ways to become an FBI informant. Read More >>. At a Border Patrol checkpoint, Lalo got caught smuggling more than 100 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the wheels of his pickup. Some of the more common motivational factors encountered by drug enforcement investigators include fear, revenge, money, repentance, and altruism. He's clean-cut and clearly educated. Expose any deals they have had with the prosecution to work off their charges in exchange for information, Play up the fact that they are being paid to inform against the defendant, Make them admit to wanting to avoid any negative consequences for themself or loved ones that would have occurred if they failed to cooperate. CIs are regular folks that provide law enforcement with confidential, possibly damning, information against you. Confidential informants people who pose as criminals so they can provide information to the police or some government agency have helped crack some major U.S. cases. Sign up. Confidential Informants | Minneapolis Drug Attorney - Keller Law Offices When a snitch provides incriminating evidence that leads to arrest, the government must now disclose non-identifying information about the source of the police officer's information. However, this does not have to be the case. Lalo wasn't looking to make a deal. He also tried to get Congress to investigate, but that went nowhere. 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 CI must provide 100% honest information. A simple he-said-she-said backed up with no observations won't be worth much in court. Our firm serves clients in local communities including Birmingham City, Irondale, Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood, Hoover, Pelham, Alabaster, and Helena. The faces of Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro through the ages, from various drivers licenses, a passport and a video of him in jail. Possess equipment or chemicals, or both, for the purpose of manufacturing a dangerous drug. Law enforcement monitors the controlled buy through audio and/or video surveillance, which is usually recorded. Jeralyn Elise Merritt (Unclaimed Profile). The crux revolves around the confidential part of the confidential informant. "He kept us so busy we were so behind on reports that we told him to go take a vacation just to let us catch up on reports," Bencomo says. You cant enforce these agreements or conversations. Details for individual reviews received before 2009 are not displayed. Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor. Official websites use .gov Are Confidential Informants Credible? This website is for general informational purposes only. "I believe in some kind of justice, and I think I was doing something good," he said. Ask a Question About Investigations, Arrests, and Trials in Our Community Forum, Anonymous 'Reliable' Tip Can Justify Traffic Stop. The recording devices used have become very sophisticated and are virtually undetectable. If the judge grants the motion to compel disclosure, the prosecution has some tough choices to make: If they dont want to burn their CI or if they dont have one, they wont disclose the identity, and the case will be dismissed. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS To the U.S. government, he was officially informant No. Copyright 2023 Weinstein Legal. We called after our son was arrested for a crime he committed nearly 9 months earlier. 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. Having gained this knowledge all that remains to be done is to transpose it into the environment of managing confidential informants. 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. The problem is that there is no one to police the police. You can be called as a witness to testify on the governments behalf if the person you snitched on requests a jury trial. A common myth that is absolutely not true is that confidential informants do not testify in trials. of this site is subject to additional Those are . The penalties appointed by a judge will vary on several circumstances surrounding your drug trafficking charges in the state of Florida. Additionally, there are many other rights and freedoms that you stand to lose as the result of a conviction. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Do not allow any of these things to happen to you. It depends. 913, though most called him by the nickname Lalo. Members of Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigations excavate the yard at the House of Death after two bodies were found there. Exposing the confidential informants identity would spell the end of the governments ability to use that informant again in the future. Attention is given to forms, reports, records, and files that are the foundation of the information gathering and control procedures. If a defendant doesn't ask for disclosure of the identity at one of these two times, then the issue is waived (meaning that the defendant can't find out the identity later). Is a Confidential Informant Truthful? Drug Informants: Motives, Methods, and Management So how can a court find a CI's testimony to be credible? He also helped crack a major international cigarette smuggling ring. For now, he said, jail is better than the fate he faces in Mexico. The video was shot four years ago at Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minn. (See clips from the video on the timeline of Lalo's case). Confidential informants, will have always have their own agendas and will sometimes be motivated to lie and obstruct justice while claiming to be help. 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. If the CI does testify at your trial, your attorney will have the opportunity to cross examine the CI and ask questions about any deals the CI made with the state. The killings in Juarez took place more than six years ago. If you need help defending yourself from these cases, our criminal defense firm can help. To get started working on your case and to learn how to beat drug charges in the state of Florida, contact Weinstein Legal today. But he had his reasons for informing on the drug gang. My reservations were quickly eased during my initial consultation. As with most things in the legal world, knowing how to beat a CI depends on your case. There should be an audit trail detail who has seen the true identity and when they saw it. The government does not have the resources or time to do this. Bencomo says Lalo was different from other informants. If the FBI has identified you as a person who has a connection to a criminal enterprise, activity or target, the Bureau may approach you to provide it with information. The majority of informants are those working off . When considering how to beat a drug trafficking charge in the state of Florida, many individuals wonder what defenses are available to them. Eventually, a dozen bodies were unearthed at the site. For example, if law enforcement arrests you with a larger quantity of a specific substance you may face a longer prison sentence. How experts say to reform the confidential informant - KSAT Possess a dangerous drug for sale. Our consultant Dr John Buckley will be. 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 . Lorenza Magana, who works with victims of violence in Juarez, sat vigil with relatives of missing family members outside the house the night that Mexican authorities began unearthing the remains. "So where are we going to find any help if we can't trust the U.S.?". The more motivated a confidential informant is, the more likely they are to apply themselves to the tasks that the law enforcement officers gives them and the more committed they will be r to achieving success. But during our interview, ICE said that handbook still isn't finished. Justin is an absolute professional and took the time I needed to explain the process and his role thoroughly. 0000017403 00000 n Last Updated: May 3rd, 2022 at 8:20 pm Read Time: 9 Minutes. Lalo has been in solitary confinement for more than five years. hide caption. Police and prosecutors generally want to keep the identity of their CI a secret. xb```Il@r/ 0! The reason for this is the police use the CI to gain probable cause for your arrest. Use the FBI as a source of information so that he can further his criminal operations and eliminate competition. In general, the Government goes to great lengths to not reveal the identity of snitches. Guadalupe Juarez/AFP/Getty Images It is not uncommon in drug cases for prosecutors to use evidence from a controlled buy to support the charges. Jordan says on top of all that, ICE knew who was doing the killing and where the bodies were buried, but didn't share any of that information with Mexican authorities. ICE kept Lalo on its payroll, and even worked with a federal prosecutor to get his drug charges dropped. A person shall not knowingly: 1. If the confidential informant is disclosed and proceeds to testify at trial, the way to beat them would be to make them appear unreliable. reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and People who are arrested because you are a CI can put your life and the life of your loved ones in danger. In any case, the outcome will most likely benefit you as the defendant. The use of informants by police is essentially unregulated by the courts. If you are wondering how to beat a drug charge in the state of Florida and have an upcoming court case for these criminal charges, contact Weinstein Legal today and ask for criminal defense attorney Matt Shafran. Reviewers can be anyone who consults or hires a lawyer including in-house counsel, corporate executives, small business owners, and private individuals.
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