Prof. Murray Quoted in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Solutions to Confidential Informant Problems

Professor JaneAnne Murray was quoted in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article entitled "Experts Offer Solutions to Confidential Informant Problems." The paper has been running a series of investigative articles analyzing the use of informants in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania. In the latest article, focusing on remedies for the problems the investigation uncovered, Murray points out that judges already have the authority to prevent and ameliorate the due process issues raised by unreliable informant testimony. Magistrate judges "can exercise more oversight when presented with warrant applications, and delve more deeply into who the confidential informants are, the axes they may be grinding, and their lurking credibility issues," she said. In addition, pointing out that defense lawyers usually do not get the names of informants used against their clients until the week before trial, she adds that district judges could order prosecutors to provide defense lawyers with the names and rap sheets of informants much earlier in the process, subject to protective orders.