How Do I Find Out the Name of the Person Who Turned Me In?
Full Question:
Answer:
The answer will depend on the nature of the charges. If you were charged with a criminal violation, the informant's identity may be protected from disclosure. if you were charged with a civil offense, it may be possible to request the information through filing a request for production or interrogatories through the discovery process. In the discovery process of a lawsuit, a party may request information through interrogatories or a request for production as long as it is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.
Please see the following VT criminal and evidentiary rules:
RULE 16. DISCOVERY BY DEFENDANT
(a) Prosecutor's Obligations. Except as provided in subdivision (d) of
this rule for matters not subject to disclosure and in Rule 16.2(d) for
protective orders, upon a plea of not guilty the prosecuting attorney
shall upon request of the defendant made in writing or in open court at
his appearance under Rule 5 or at any time thereafter
(1) Disclose to defendant's attorney as soon as possible the names and
addresses of all witnesses then known to him, and permit defendant's
attorney to inspect and copy or photograph their relevant written or
recorded statements, within the prosecuting attorney's possession or
control.
(2) Disclose to defendant's attorney and permit him to inspect and copy
or photograph with a reasonable time the following material or
information within the prosecuting attorney's possession, custody, or
control:
(A) any written or recorded statements and the substance of any oral
statements made by the defendant, or made by a codefendant if the trial
is to be a joint one;
(B) the transcript of any grand jury proceedings pertaining to the
indictment of the defendant or of any inquest proceedings pertaining to
the investigation of the defendant;
(C) any reports or statements of experts, made in connection with the
particular case, including results of physical or mental examinations and
of scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons;
(D) any books, papers, documents, photographs (including motion
pictures and video tapes), or tangible objects, buildings or places or
copies or portions thereof, which are material to the preparation of the
defense or which the prosecuting attorney intends to use in the hearing
or trial or which were obtained from or belong to the defendant;
(E) the names and addresses of all witnesses whom the prosecuting
attorney intends to call as witnesses at the hearing or trial, together
with any record of prior criminal convictions of any such witness; and
(F) any record of prior criminal convictions of the defendant.
(G) any other material or information not protected from disclosure
under subdivision (d) of this rule that is necessary to the preparation
of the defense.
The fact that a witness' name is on a list furnished under
subparagraph (2)(E) of this subdivision and that he is not called shall not be
commented upon at trial.
If no request is made, the prosecuting attorney shall, at or before the
status conference, disclose in writing the foregoing items or state in
writing that they do not exist.
(b) Same: Collateral or Exculpatory Matter. The prosecuting attorney
shall, as soon as possible, after a plea of not guilty,
(1) Inform defendant's attorney,
(A) if he has any relevant material or information which has been
provided by an informant;
(B) if there are any grand jury or inquest proceedings which have not
been transcribed; and
(C) if there has been any electronic surveillance (including
wiretapping) of conversations to which the defendant was a party or of
his premises.
(2) Disclose to defendant's attorney any material or information within
his possession or control which tends to negate the guilt of the
defendant as to the offense charged or would tend to reduce his
punishment therefor.
(c) Same: Scope. The prosecuting attorney's obligations under
subdivisions (a) and (b) of this rule extend to material and information
in the possession, custody, or control of members of his staff and of any
others who have participated in the investigation or evaluation of the
case and who either regularly report, or with reference to the particular
case have reported, to his office.
(d) Matters Not Subject to Disclosure.
(1) Work Product. Disclosure shall not be required of legal research or
of records, correspondence, reports, or memoranda to the extent that they
contain the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories
of the prosecuting attorney, members of his legal staff, or other agents
of the prosecution, including investigators and police officers.
(2) Informants. Disclosure of an informant's identity shall not be
required except as provided in Rule 509(c) of the Vermont Rules of
Evidence.
(e) Videotapes. A copy of a videotape made of the alleged offense and
subsequent processing shall be available for purchase by the defendant
directly from the law enforcement agency responsible for initiating the
action upon written request and advance payment of a $45.00 fee, except
that no fee shall be charged to a defendant whom the court has determined
to be indigent. A municipal or county law enforcement agency shall be
entitled to all fees it collects for videotapes sold pursuant to this
rule. Fees collected by the state for videotapes sold pursuant to this
rule shall be deposited in the DUI enforcement special fund created under
section 1220a of Title 23. The original videotape may be erased 90 days
after:
(1) the entry of final judgment; or
(2) the date the videotape was made, if no civil or criminal action is
filed.
RULE 509. IDENTITY OF INFORMANT
(a) Rule of privilege. The United States or a state or
subdivision thereof has a privilege to refuse to disclose the identity of a person
who has furnished information relating to or assisting in an
investigation of a possible violation of a law to a law enforcement
officer or member of a legislative committee or its staff conducting an
investigation.
(b) Who may claim. The privilege may be claimed by an appropriate
representative of the public entity to which the information was
furnished.
(c) Exceptions.
(1) Voluntary disclosure; informant a witness. No privilege exists
under this rule (A) if the identity of the informant or his interest in
the subject matter of his communication has been disclosed by a holder of
the privilege or by the informant's own deliberate action to those who
would have cause to resent the communication, or (B) if the informant
testifies as a witness for the government.
(2) Testimony on relevant issue. If it appears in the case that an
informant may be able to give testimony relevant to any issue in a
criminal case or to a fair determination of a material issue on the
merits in a civil case to which a public entity is a party, and the
informed public entity invokes the privilege, the court shall give the
public entity an opportunity to show in camera facts relevant to
determining whether the informant can, in fact, supply that testimony.
The showing will ordinarily be in the form of affidavits, but the court
may direct that testimony be taken if it determines that the matter
cannot be resolved satisfactorily upon affidavit. If the court determines
there is a reasonable probability that the informant can give the
testimony, and the public entity elects not to disclose his identity, in
criminal cases the court on motion of the defendant or on its own motion
shall grant appropriate relief, which may include one or more of the
following: requiring the prosecuting attorney to comply, granting the
defendant additional time or a continuance, relieving the defendant from
making disclosures otherwise required of him, prohibiting the prosecuting
attorney from introducing specified evidence, and dismissing charges. In
civil cases, the court may make any order the interests of justice
require. Evidence submitted to the court shall be sealed and preserved to
be made available to the appellate court in the event of an appeal, and
the contents shall not otherwise be revealed without consent of the
informed public entity. All counsel and parties are permitted to be
present at every state of proceedings under this paragraph except a
showing in camera at which no counsel or party shall be permitted to be
present.