From the El Paso Times: The lawyer for an alleged Barrio Azteca gang leader criticized the government's use of cash, legal immigrant status, reduced sentences and other incentives for witnesses, including to admitted killers, in order for them to testify in the trial of Arturo "Farmero" Gallegos Castrellon.
During closing arguments Friday, defense lawyer Randolph Ortega said the combined cash payments alone to at least three witnesses amounted to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Gallegos, who faces up to life in prison, pleaded not guilty. The federal jury that sat through the two-week trial returned a guilty verdict Friday on all the counts against him.
George C. Harris, a prominent lawyer in San Francisco, said in a 2000 article for the Pepperdine Law Review, "Testimony for Sale: The Law and Ethics of Snitches and Experts," that "one of every five federal defendants receives a sentencing reduction for 'substantial assistance' to the government, which is just one form of compensation that prosecutors can offer to cooperating witnesses."
"The impact of compensated witnesses on civil and criminal trials is often significant and sometimes pivotal," wrote Harris, who was unavailable for comment late Friday. "Occasionally, it can result in dramatic miscarriages of justice," he said in the law review article. http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25155061/defense-alleges-that-purchased-testimony-was-part-governments
Yeah, the government always gave incentives for testimony against thugs. But using cash and immigration status for testimony? Do we really want illegals involved in murders and their families be given citizenship?
Umm, nope. But Obama and Holder want those future Democrat voters.
The Las Vegas Badger is about politics, humor, sports, reality shows in Las Vegas, especially Pawn Stars and anything else interesting. While I live in Las Vegas, my heart is still in Wisconsin. Thanks for visiting the blog and feel free to browse the web site.
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