Police distribute playing cards with information on cases at Charleston detention center
It is bad enough when prosecutors or police accept statements from inmates with pending charges at face value without corroboration, but to actually feed them information and then wait to hear back from them is beyond the pale.
Inmates at the Charleston County Detention Center received playing cards Thursday that Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry hopes will help in gathering information and potentially solving cases, the group said.Each card features a photograph and factual information about an unsolved homicide from around the state, including two from the Charleston area. Each card also features information on how to submit a tip anonymously. Some cards had earlier printing errors that have since been corrected.
The cards promote two tip lines: 1-888-CRIME-SC (1-888-274-6372), and *49 for use within the Detention Center. Both numbers will anonymously connect the caller with Crime Stoppers.
The local cases include the Oct. 3, 2002, North Charleston stabbing death of cabbie Eugene Thomas, who was found dead in his cab after he failed to return from a call.
The other case is the Sept. 4, 2003, shooting death in Charleston of Mark Miller, who was found shot in a car left on Alston Street.
The inmates were curious to check out the cards and pass on anything they may know . . .All they have to do is pick up one of the phones inside the jail and call Crime Stoppers.
"Hopefully it will jog someone's memory," Corporal Bowie said. "Maybe there's somebody that wants to start their life over. Maybe there's somebody that needs a little money."
Ordinarily, jailhouse snitches crop up when they are charged with a crime, and when they discover what the hot case of the month is for the investigators or the prosecutor's office. A desperate inmate facing the loss of years or decades of his life will take any information that he can find on the crime, and frame it in a way that is appealing to the prosecutors. If he has an attorney, his attorney will approach the prosecutor about cutting a deal, or sometimes the inmate just sends a letter directly to the investigators.
This is why I tell my clients up front, do not talk with anyone at the jail about your case, and do not share your discovery materials with them. Even if you say, I'm charged with (insert facts of case) but I am absolutely innocent, you have just given a potential jailhouse snitch enough information to lie about your case. I'm innocent may turn into a detailed confession, coupled with the hope of a sweet deal for the snitch, by the time your case gets to trial.
What is worse is when police or prosecutors actually feed information to inmates, and wait for them to come back asking for a deal. I'm sure that Charleston police will solve their crimes using this tactic, the question is how are they going to know that the person they end up charging is actually guilty and not the victim of a jailhouse snitch's con game, and why don't they care?
