Opinion ID: 492349
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Agreement Contingent Upon Conviction

Text: 44 Courts have generally allowed paid informants to testify as long as the agreements are not contingent upon the conviction of particular persons. United States v. Palow, 777 F.2d 52, 54 (1st Cir.1985). 45 In United States v. Grimes, the Sixth Circuit said: 46 No such overriding policy is present when an informer is paid on a contingent fee agreement for the conviction of specified persons for crimes not yet committed. Although it is true that the informant working under this type of arrangement may be prone to lie and manufacture crimes, he is no more likely to commit these wrongs than witnesses acting for other, more common reasons. Frequently, for example, one co-defendant testifies against another co-defendant with the expectation of favorable treatment as a reward for his testimony. Like the informant being paid on a contingent fee basis, a co-defendant so testifying may feel it imperative to obtain a conviction of his co-defendant in order to improve his own position. Similarly, informants paid on bases other than a contingent arrangement may feel that their employment will be terminated if they do not bring about a conviction. Therefore, despite admonitions to the contrary, they may believe that their future employment as an informant depends on the manufacture of crimes in order to prove their worth to the government. Neither of these methods of 'paying' informers has been seriously attacked by the courts; yet the potential for abuse is obvious in each case. Rather than adopting an exclusionary rule for a particular factual situation, irrespective of the mode of payment, we prefer the rule that would leave the entire matter to the jury to consider in weighing the credibility of the witness-informant (Citation omitted). In our view this approach provides adequate safeguards for the criminal defendant against possible abuses since the witness must undergo the rigors of cross-examination. 47 438 F.2d at 395-96. This court has agreed with the Sixth Circuit's general policy and reasoning although we refrained from stating whether or not we would go as far as the Sixth Circuit with respect to the testimony of informants. United States v. Dailey, 759 F.2d at 200. Here also we agree with the general policy and reasoning, but we distinguish the facts of this case from that of Grimes. In Grimes, the government explicitly promised the informer a reward for each conviction he made possible. The government made no such promise here and we would not condone such an agreement. 48 Montaner received the bulk of his compensation prior to trial; thus payment of this sum was not contingent upon the conviction of any of the defendants. See United States v. Shearer, 794 F.2d at 1549. Montaner did make an isolated statement on cross-examination that he expected more generous treatment from the government if the defendants were convicted. However, the agents who supervised Montaner made clear that the important factor in determining what he received was nothing more specific than the nature and extent of his cooperation. For investigative work in an unrelated case, Montaner received $30,000; there have been no convictions or arrests made in that case, yet Montaner was rewarded. There was no reason then, for Montaner to believe his payment in this case would be contingent upon a conviction, nor was it. Montaner's isolated statement was not the product of a government promise. 7 49 When reviewing the entire testimony of the witness on this specific issue, which spanned over fifty pages of transcript, it appears that this one isolated statement was a product of confusion due to persistent cross examination. The witness repeatedly denied this assertion, both before and after the unfortunate statement was made. 8 Also, as the witness was born and raised in Spain, he did not have a strong command of the English language. The witness' isolated remark, which conflicted with the rest of his extensive testimony, viewed in the context of his testimony as a whole on this issue, combined with the language factor, leads us to believe that it should not be relied upon as a true reflection of the witness' belief. Montaner's testimony as a whole convinces us that the agreement between himself and the government, as understood by both, was not contingent upon the outcome of the case or whether there were any convictions, but rather upon his cooperation with the government.