Statements obtained illegally may be used for impeachment purposes
In Kansas v. Ventris, released today, the United States Supreme Court held that, although a statement has been obtained in violation of a defendant's right to counsel, it may be used at trial for purposes of impeaching the defendant's testimony. Ventris and a co-defendant, Theel, were charged with aggravated robbery and murder. Theel's murder charge was dismissed in exchange for her testimony that Ventris pulled the trigger, and the prosecution placed an informant in Ventris' cell to obtain incriminating statements.
Predictably, the informant claimed that Ventris confessed to killing the victim. The state admitted at trial that this was a statement obtained in violation of Ventris' right to counsel (cops, prosecutors, or their agents cannot question a defendant once the right to counsel has attached unless the defendant approaches them himself), but at trial the judge allowed the state to call the informant to impeach Ventris' testimony that he was not the shooter. The Supreme Court held that this was appropriate, as the deterrent effect of excluding evidence obtained in violation of the constitution does not apply where it is used for impeachment purposes only, and to hold otherwise would give the defendant free reign to lie under oath. (If Ventris' disagreement with the informant was only whether or not he was the triggerman, it looks like Ventris won on that point anway, since he was acquitted of murder and convicted of robbery)
I agree with the Court's reasoning and I believe it is the right conclusion, but in my opinion we are discussing the wrong issues. The question we should be asking is whether the informant, who undoubtedly is attempting to please the prosecutor in order to obtain his own freedom, should be permitted to testify at all without independent corroboration of his testimony. Our criminal courts have become poisoned by the use of perjured and unverified testimony by informants, which are used routinely by prosecutors, whether knowingly and unethically or ignorantly and incompetently. A culture of lying to obtain deals has arisen in our jails and prisons, which is used indiscriminately by many prosecutors in state and federal courts.
Testimony of jailhouse informants is inherently unreliable, and may be the biggest challenge that our justice system faces today. It is too easy for prosecutors, wielding the threat of prosecution and the promise of freedom, to find an inmate who is willing to say anything that will get them closer to the light of day. I agree that it makes sense to allow use of evidence which was obtained unlawfully for impeachment purposes. It does not make sense to allow use of patently unreliable evidence, whether obtained in violation of the constitution or not, for any purpose.
