The National Incentivized Informant Research Project — Life After Justice
National Research Initiative

When Incentives
Distort the Truth.

Incentivized informant testimony is one of the leading — and most preventable — causes of wrongful convictions in the United States. Life After Justice's National Incentivized Informant Research Project is a first-of-its-kind in depth and scope effort to examine the role of all types of incentivized informants in known wrongful convictions across the country.

17% Of DNA Exonerations
Jailhouse informant testimony contributed to 17% of the 375 DNA exonerations in the U.S. between 1989–2020.
45.9% Of Death Penalty Cases
False informant testimony is present in 45.9% of wrongful death-penalty convictions nationwide.
31% Preliminary Finding
LAJ's preliminary findings show at least 31% of known U.S. exonerations involved incentivized informants.
The Problem
A Systemic Risk Factor Embedded in Criminal Prosecutions.

This practice is not an isolated problem — it is a systemic risk factor embedded in criminal investigations and prosecutions nationwide.

Incentivized informant testimony is one of the leading — and most preventable — causes of wrongful convictions. Between 1989 and 2020, jailhouse informant testimony contributed to 17% of the 375 DNA exonerations in the U.S. In capital cases, false informant testimony is the single factor present in 45.9% of wrongful death-penalty convictions nationwide.

Our preliminary findings show that at least 31% of known U.S. exonerations involved incentivized informants — confirming them as one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions nationwide.

Definition
An incentivized informant is anyone who provides inculpatory information to government officials (i.e. law enforcement or prosecutors) in exchange for a benefit — such as reduced charges, sentence reductions, financial compensation, or other favorable treatment — or in response to a threat or pressure from officials.
Our Preliminary Finding
The Data Is Impossible to Ignore.
Our Preliminary Key Findings
31%
of known U.S. exonerations involved incentivized informants — confirming them as one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions nationwide. This practice is not an isolated problem, but a systemic risk factor embedded in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Research Approach
Survivor-Centered Insight. Rigorous Data. Cutting-Edge Technology.

To better understand how and why these cases occur, LAJ is partnering with leading researchers and institutions to analyze patterns, practices, and decision points that increase the risk of wrongful conviction.

Research Partner

Cornell University WyLab

Partnering to analyze patterns, practices, and decision points that increase the risk of wrongful conviction through incentivized informant testimony.

Research Partner

Boston College Morality Lab

Collaborating on the behavioral and moral dimensions of incentivized testimony — examining why and how these practices lead to wrongful outcomes.

Technology Partner

Quattrone Center for Fair Justice

In collaboration with the Quattrone Center, the project uses a custom AI tool to code cases — bringing innovation, scale, and consistency to wrongful conviction research.

By combining survivor-centered insight, rigorous data, and cutting-edge technology, this project strengthens the evidence base needed to drive policy reform and prevent future wrongful convictions.
Life After Justice — Incentivized Informants Research Project
Why This Research Matters
Turning Evidence Into Lasting Reform.

Your support powers the data and analysis needed to expose how incentivized informant testimony leads to wrongful convictions — and to drive reforms that prevent future harm.

Support This Project

This project strengthens the evidence base needed to drive policy reform, improve prosecutorial practices, and prevent future wrongful convictions — advancing LAJ's mission to turn lived experience into lasting systems change.

By examining not just individual cases but systemic patterns across thousands of exonerations, this research makes it impossible for policymakers, prosecutors, and courts to dismiss incentivized informant testimony as an isolated risk. It is a structural problem — and it requires structural solutions.

Every case coded, every pattern identified, and every finding published moves us closer to a criminal legal system where testimony is weighed on its merits — not on the benefits offered to the person delivering it.

\u00b9 Innocence Project, DNA Exonerations in the United States (1989–2020), 2026
\u00b2 Northwestern School of Law: Center on Wrongful Convictions, The Snitch System, 2005