In flipping a Norwalk man’s conviction for conspiracy to commit murder, the state Supreme Court last week announced a new rule in cases involving jailhouse snitches. Defendants are now entitled to a special jury instruction on an informant’s credibility where the incarcerated informant testified in exchange for beneficial treatment by the state, the high court ruled in State v. Anthony E. Patterson.
“An informant who has been promised a benefit by the state in return for his or her testimony has a powerful incentive, fueled by self-interest, to implicate falsely the accused,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote for a unanimous panel.
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