PrepTest 153, Section 1, Question 17
Criminal courts frequently rely on accomplice witnesses (witnesses(444 more words not shown)
The author would be most(20 more words not shown)
- AIt encourages unacceptably(9 more words not shown)
- BIt fails to(12 more words not shown)
- CIt frequently places(5 more words not shown)
- DIt is justified(14 more words not shown)
- EIt likely leads(10 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What consequences follow from the arrangement we've read about? A witness can receive a shorter sentence for helping the prosecution, even though that incentive creates a reason to invent evidence. We also know that lying informants are rarely prosecuted. Those facts should guide our inference; we don't need to invent a new objection to the system.
Working the answers
- A
The author worries about unreliable evidence and mistaken convictions. We aren't told that relying on cooperating witnesses encourages investigators or prison officials to treat prisoners unacceptably harshly.
- B
Fear of retaliation could be a concern in real life, but it isn't a concern the author raises here. We can't substitute a different possible motive for the incentives actually discussed.
- C
The research questions how well jurors account for incentives. It doesn't follow that giving them this task is an unfair burden. Difficulty evaluating evidence and unfairness to the people evaluating it are different claims.
- D
The author never offers this exception. Nothing says unreliable testimony becomes justified whenever the prosecution has little other evidence.
- ECorrect
Follow the incentive through: a witness fabricates information, the prosecution treats that information as valuable cooperation, and the witness receives a reduced sentence. The reduction wasn't earned by supplying truthful assistance. That's why some reductions would be unwarranted. The author doesn't state this answer word for word, but the combination of fabrication and rewards supports it.
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