In-custody Informants in California

State statute requires a jury instruction to be given when jailhouse informant witness testimony is going to be used at trial. The instruction directs jurors to assess the jailhouse informant’s testimony with greater scrutiny and specifically consider the extent to which the testimony may have been influenced by the receipt or expectation of any benefits. Effective: 1989; Updated most recently: 2016.

Read the statutes here and here.