An Injustice in the Justice System
About this episode
Pamela Colloff discusses the troubling role of jailhouse snitches in the justice system, focusing on Paul Skalnik's testimonies and their impact on wrongful convictions.
Pamela Colloff is an accomplished investigative journalist and has written "Catch the Devil" about a frighteningly prolific jailhouse snitch. Paul Skalnik testified in dozens of cases that inmates in Florida prisons had confessed their guilt to him. Often prosecutors won convictions based largely on Skalnik’s testimony including four cases where he was instrumental on putting men on Florida’s death row. One of them, Jim Dailey, was convicted of murdering a 14 year old girl. Despite evidence that has come out since Dailey’s conviction, he sits on Florida’s death row. He has been there over 40 years unable to get a new trial. Colloff repeatedly met Skalnik who said he would tell her the truth about all his testimonies. He never did. But Colloff has reported the story in brilliant detail and writes about how often prosecutors use jailhouse snitches knowing their testimony may be tainted. Skalnik’s repeated claims of jailhouse confessions defied credulity... so why did prosecutors continue to put him on the stand? Why didn’t judges disallow his testimony? Why did appellate courts accept his word? It’s a…
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