Damien West took the stand last week and aired his dirty, bloodstained laundry.
He talked about shooting the federal witness at the center of the current case, about dealing cocaine in Baltimore, about robbing random people and about being the chauffeur and protege for James Dinkins, who's on trial accused of drug conspiracy and multiple killings.
So far, West is the Department of Justice's best witness.
The federal government is relying on some serious criminals - murderers, drug dealers and gang members - to make its case in the double death penalty trial under way in Baltimore's U.S. District Court. In exchange for leniency, at least six "cooperating witnesses," most of whom haven't yet been sentenced for their crimes, are expected to testify against Dinkins, 37, and his two co-defendants, Melvin Gilbert, 34, and Darron Goods, 24.
That's raised concerns among defense attorneys, who say the cooperators have a strong motivation to lie. They point to a recent study out of the University of Arkansas that suggests one in two people will perjure themselves if given an incentive to do so.
"Their testimony is essentially bought and paid for," said John Wesley Hall Jr., president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who emphasized that he was speaking generally.
But prosecutors say the deals are necessary evils and the best way to get information about covert and illegal organizations. They work very hard with law enforcement agencies to "flip" people for just that reason.
"Often the people who are in the best position to be witnesses in a case are the people who themselves have been involved in the criminal activity," said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. He said his office works to develop cases against hardened criminals to give them the incentive to bargain.
Federal prosecutors often cut deals. In the first quarter of this year, 96 percent of federal cases garnered guilty pleas, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. That turns a lot of people into so-called cooperators - people like Marcus Pearson, who arranged the killing of a Baltimore witness. But he'll likely receive a 35-year sentence based on his plea agreement, which counted on his testimony against Patrick Byers Jr., who received four life terms.
