Thread by @WTF_Judge

Ok kids. It’s time for #drunjlaw with Judge. On today’s episode, we talk about corroboration.

Why this? Because the number one red hat line this week is that Michael Cohen is making up lies and POTUS wants to make flipping illegal. Here is how. That shit works 1/

Starting from the basics. Let’s say the feds catch a conspiracy and they do “flip” a co-conspirator. They want the co-conspirator to testify against the defendant. But first they have to get past two pesky hurdles: hearsay and corroboration. 2/

I’ll dispose of hearsay in a hurry. In criminal cases anything the defendant has ever said is generally admissible against him at trial. When trying conspiracy, same goes for statements made by the co-conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy. Hi, Rick Gates. 3/

Those are both exclusions from the hearsay rule. Or exceptions. I can’t remember and looking it up means stepping away from this scotchy Scotch. 4/ or was it 5?

It was 4. Anyway, the next step is corroboration. See, confessions are the least reliable form of proof known to the law (thanks @CAAFlog for that line). Why? Because our courts don’t take confessions at face value. They have to be corroborated. 5/

And not just corroborated, but corroborated by other, independently admissible evidence. And the kicker is, the same applies to co-conspirator statements. We don’t just take them at face value, we have to have other evidence. 6/

So that’s where the corroboration rule comes in. In US courts, the government has to provide admissible evidence that corroborates the trustworthiness of the confession. 7/

Meaning that if a prosecutor were to “flip” a witness and there is NOTHING to back up what the witness is saying, then there can’t be a flip. Period. 8/

So...let’s say Michael “plaid” Cohen IS making shit up. Then what?

Nothing.

Because if he can’t verify what he’s saying, he can’t testify. 9/

But if he, or anyone, can show anything (an email, a recording, a document, another witness) to a potential crime, then his confession can be corroborated and it’s game time. 10/ (I think)

So a message for the dear Red Hats: you say whatever you want to say about Michael Cohen. Yeah, worst lawyer ever. Rudo Giuliani is a close second and this guy is third. 11/

Just know that if he gets called as a witness by Mueller or anyone else, it’s because they can back his testimony up with other shit. And that, friends, is called corroboration.

Subject to your questions, this concludes #drunjlaw 13/13