Ethan Brown has just released a new book,  Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice, (PublicAffair, December 2007).  I haven’t read the book yet, so I can’t tell you about how Ethan’s incisive brilliance has settled all debate over the propriety of snitching in general, and its viability as an alternative path for legitimate defense strategy. 

But the squibs are interesting, and will hopefully bring about some further debate amongst the public (you remember them, our jurors) about the trustworthiness of the ubiquitous snitch.

From the  Amazon description of the book:

Our criminal justice system favors defendants who know how to play the “5K game”: criminals who are so savvy about the cooperation process that they repeatedly commit serious crimes knowing they can be sent back to the streets if they simply cooperate with prosecutors. In Snitch, investigative reporter Ethan Brown shows through a compelling series of case profiles how the sentencing guidelines for drug-related offenses, along with the 5K1.1 section, have unintentionally created a “cottage industry of cooperators,” and led to fabricated evidence. The result is wrongful convictions and appallingly gruesome crimes, including the grisly murder of the Harvey family in Richmond, Virginia and the well-publicized murder of Imette St. Guillen in New York City.

My initial reaction to this promotional description is that it falls into the same old, tired trap of attributing that level of “savvy” that makes desperate defendants into evil geniuses.  This is what comes from seeing the end result without having any real knowledge of the people involved.  As we deal with defendants daily, and lie with their varying levels of brilliance and the occasional epiphany of a new way to play the system, this hyperbole is harder to swallow.

Nor does this description address the role of the government, both law enforcement and prosecution, in creating, fostering and supporting productive rats in the name of justice. 

And of course, does it matter that Ethan described the occasional “appallingly gruesome” crime, as if things would be acceptable if snitches only produced wrongful convictions and ordinarily gruesome crimes?  Or what about ordinary crimes that weren’t gruesome at all?

The Turk alerted me first to this new book.  Do I commend it, particularly given our love/hate relationship to the topic?  I can’t say since I haven’t read it yet.  Maybe Ethan will have me review it, if he wants to know how well it meets the perspective from the inside rather than the sensationalist outsider view.  It’s hard to work off of the publisher’s promo, since that’s directed to the general audience seeking melodrama, without regard to accuracy.  Will it offer anything to the criminal defense bar?  Maybe.  I wouldn’t just a book by its cover.

In any event, I thought you should know that it’s out there considering how many words we spend on the subject of snitches.

Update:  I just heard from Ethan Brown’s publisher, who is sending out a copy for my book review.  Will this pass muster in the real world?  Stay tuned.