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Supreme Court Holds Prosecutors Immune from Using False Snitch Testimony to Gain Wrongful Conviction
Loaded on March 15, 2009
by John Dannenberg
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2009, page 26
Filed under:
Police Misconduct,
Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct,
Crime/Demographics,
Informants,
Wrongful Conviction,
Prosecutorial Immunity.
Location:
California.
Supreme Court Holds Prosecutors Immune from Using False Snitch Testimony to Gain Wrongful Conviction
by John E. Dannenberg
On March 28, 2007, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a California man, wrongfully imprisoned for 24 years due to unreliable jailhouse informant testimony, could sue the prosecutor …
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More from this issue:
- Deconstructing Gus: A Former CCA Prisoner Takes On, and Takes Down, CCA’s Top Lawyer, by Paul Wright
- Online Postings Lead To Stiffer Sentences, by Brandon Sample
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- GEO Cancels Contract at Pennsylvania Jail, Looks Elsewhere for Business, by David Reutter
- $295,000 Award to Wisconsin Prisoner in Moldy Mattress Case Reduced by Court
- Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home, by Jordan Flaherty
- Widespread Corruption in Private Halfway Houses, by Derick Limberg
- Dead Bodies at “Bodies” Exhibit May Be Executed Chinese Prisoners, by Gary Hunter
- Florida’s Juvenile Death Camps: A Painful Past Revisited, by David Reutter
- Prisoners Can Sue Virginia DOC’s Contract Medical Provider for Breach of Contract
- District of Columbia Rehabilitation Program Contractor Liable in Juvenile’s Death; $1,000,000 Verdict Upheld, by Bob Williams
- California Jail Restraint and Tasering Death Settles for $3 Million
- Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access, by Mark Wilson
- Supreme Court Holds Prosecutors Immune from Using False Snitch Testimony to Gain Wrongful Conviction, by John Dannenberg
- Hawaii Prisoner Awarded $15,000.50 for Slip and Fall
- Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio Court Releases Prisoners from Private Jail to Protect Them
- CMS Contract Woes Persist in New Jersey, Arizona and Delaware, by David Reutter
- $2,925,000 in Recent Settlements Involving Maricopa County and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, by Matthew Clarke
- Audit Faults New York Prison Oversight, by Mark Wilson
- In the Shadow of San Quentin: An Interview with Prison Law Office Director Donald Specter, by Todd Matthews
- Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the U.S. and Canada, 3rd Edition, by Jon Marc Taylor and Susan Schwartzkopf, by Paul Wright
- Federal Three-Judge Panel Issues Tentative Ruling To Reduce California’s Prison Population By Up To 57,000 In Three Years, by John Dannenberg
- $3.6 Million Settlement in Michigan Prisoner’s Segregation Cell Death
- Selling Segregation, by Josh Rushing
- California Appellate Court Grants Writ, Reverses Governor, Reinstates PLN Writer’s Grant of Parole, by Marvin Mentor
- Reverend Sues, Wins Right to Register Alabama Prisoners to Vote, by David Reutter
- Texas Parole Officials Caught Lying to Federal Court With Impunity
- Report Finds Increase in Michigan Prison Population Attributable to Political Policy Changes, Not Crime Increase, by David Reutter
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- Maryland Prison Employees Strip Searched After False Alert by Drug Scanning Machine, by Derick Limberg
- News in Brief:
- Former Illinois Prison Director Convicted and Fined
- Washington Jury Awards $202,500 to Ex-Prisoner for Injuries from Top Bunk Fall
More from John Dannenberg:
- Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, 2d Ed., by Dan Manville, March 5, 2015
- Systemic Changes Follow Murder of Colorado Prison Director, July 10, 2014
- The Redbook – A Manual on Legal Style, April 15, 2014
- Arrest-Proof Yourself, by Dale Carson and Wes Denham, March 15, 2014
- Arrested: What to do When Your Loved One’s in Jail, by Wes Denham, Feb. 15, 2014
- California Parole Board Agrees to Implement Policy to Fix Terms at Lifers’ Initial Hearings, Jan. 15, 2014
- FCC Order Heralds Hope for Reform of Prison Phone Industry, Dec. 15, 2013
- Federal Court Orders California to Release 9,600 More Prisoners, Aug. 15, 2013
- Valley Fever Declared a Public Health Emergency at Two California Prisons; Court Orders Prisoner Transfers, July 15, 2013
- Plata and Coleman Showdown in California, June 15, 2013
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- New York State Moves to Dismiss Hundreds of Prison Sexual Assault Lawsuits, Feb. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Authority and Jurisdiction, Access To Courts.
- New York City Mayor’s Order Opening Rikers Island to ICE Declared Illegal, Jan. 1, 2026. Government Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Injunctions, Deportation/Removal/Exclusion, Enforcement of Immigration Laws.
- Exonerated Former Prisoner Wins Election for Chief Record Keeper in New Orleans, Jan. 1, 2026. Prisoner Legal Assistance, Juries, Public Records, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Utah Supreme Court Announces Framework for Analyzing Combined Brady and Napue Violations, Affirms Postconviction Relief in Capital Murder Case, Jan. 1, 2026. Police Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Constructive/Imputed/Presumed knowledge, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues.
- Chicago Pays Exonerated Prisoners $7.5 Million, Bringing Total to $33.75 Million for Wrongful Convictions, Jan. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fabrication of Evidence, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Withdrawal.
- DOJ Settles With Orange County Over Use of “Jailhouse Snitches”, Dec. 1, 2025. Informants, Sixth Amendment, Confessions - Admissibility, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Pleas Linked to Cooperation.
- New Jersey Breaks Ground on New $330 Million Women’s Prison After Raid at Old Facility, Dec. 1, 2025. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, Nov. 1, 2025. Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Wrongful Conviction, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, First Step Act, Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), Specific Offenses, Controlled Substances, Weapons, Accuracy of Information, Depraved Indifference Murder, Evidence - Circumstantial, Theft, Failure to Disclose, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, New Trial - Motions for, Pleas Linked to Cooperation, Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of, Selective Prosecution/Enforcement, Improper Comments, Official Report, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $45 Million Verdict for Wrongfully Convicted Former Ohio Prisoner, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.

