Witness intimidation is a serious problem in the US and other countries, taking the form of specific threats or cultural pressure. Law enforcement agencies have established programs to protect witnesses, including witness protection and relocation. Cultural expressions that glorify illegal activity also demonize law enforcement and those who cooperate with them, further reinforcing the taboo. The Stop Snitchin’ campaign is a prime example of witness intimidation through cultural pressure. Witness intimidation is a threat to the integrity of any criminal justice system, and those found guilty are usually charged with felonies.
Witness intimidation is the practice of threatening a witness in a judicial proceeding in an attempt to influence his or her testimony. A very real problem in the United States and other countries, this practice has elicited a variety of responses, from criminalization to the establishment of elaborate programs to protect witnesses. Witness intimidation appears to take two different forms: specific threats against a witness and the establishment of an environment of intimidation and cultural demonization of those who testify or act as informants for law enforcement. In the former case, witness intimidation is perpetrated by individual criminal defendants and their associates; in the latter it has become a cultural phenomenon with its roots in popular music.
The US Constitution entitles a criminal defendant to “ . . . confront the witnesses against him”. In practice, this means that defendants are given details of those who will testify for the prosecution in advance, potentially facilitating improper or intimidating communications with witnesses. Despite this, in the vast majority of cases, witnesses testify without intimidation and then return to their normal routines without fear of retaliation. In cases where intimidation does occur, law enforcement agencies often go to great lengths to protect witnesses, the most extreme examples of which are witness protection and relocation programs, which involve providing new identities and new begins in unknown places. This is a very extreme measure because it involves witnesses cutting all ties with family and friends in order to survive.
One famous case of attempted witness intimidation was that of Sammy “The Bull” Gravano in New York City, an organized crime figure who turned the state’s evidence against John Gotti in 1991 in exchange for reduced charges against himself. A public relations campaign against Gravano ensued, with posters of Gravano’s head superimposed on the body of a rat pasted all over the city. Gotti was sentenced to life in prison without parole, while Gravano was sentenced to five years on a relatively minor charge, following which he entered the federal witness protection program. He left the program after a few years and eventually returned to a life of crime; he was sentenced to 19 years in prison at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Another form of witness intimidation is cultural pressure. In some groups and segments of society, cooperation with law enforcement agencies is considered taboo and many witnesses of crimes refuse to cooperate, even if it means that violent offenders remain free to continue their criminal activity. Cultural expressions that glorify illegal activity also demonize law enforcement and those who cooperate with them, further reinforcing the taboo. Sometimes, an effort is made to suggest that the object of the taboo is not the honest witness who offers eyewitness testimony to a crime, but those who act as informants, or “snitches,” for law enforcement agencies, or those who offer testifying against a defendant in exchange for favorable treatment in your own criminal proceedings or incarceration. These whistleblowers, it is said, will either exaggerate or lie to improve their own situation.
A prime example of witness intimidation through cultural pressure is the Stop Snitchin’ campaign which gained national prominence when a DVD of that name was produced and distributed in the Baltimore, Maryland area in 2004. The DVD threatened violent retaliation against those who have shared information about activities with law enforcement; its creator, Rodney Thomas, was convicted in 2006 of first-degree assault. The Stop Snitchin’ slogan has been used on a number of hip-hop recordings, and numerous other recordings have vilified and demonized those who cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
Witness intimidation is a serious threat to the integrity of any criminal justice system. When attempts are discovered, the system response is usually quick and unambiguous; those found guilty of witness intimidation are usually charged with felonies, and when the threat exists but there is insufficient evidence to charge or convict a perpetrator, witness protection becomes an urgent priority. A system that cannot protect its witnesses quickly loses credibility.
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