Christopher Allen Phillips v. State

Jailhouse witness testimony has come under increasing attacks. My own observation is that its use is cultural in that it is used more often in certain regions or pursuant to local custom; in essence, it is used more in some counties and never in others. The underlying problem is that it is considered inherently unreliable due to the quid pro quo that prosecutors have with the inmate who wants to testify against another inmate to better the testifying inmate’s circumstance in some way. To address this problem, the legislature passed a statute, the purpose of which is to limit the use of…