Material Witness is the 5th book in the Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A material witness is a person who is presumed to have information about the subject matter of a lawsuit or criminal prosecution which is critical to the outcome of the case or trial. ‘A person who was eyewitness to an event can be a material witness.’ ‘Justice officials insist that more than half of the detained material witnesses have ended up in criminal prosecutions.’ ‘However at that time, the police, who were the only material witnesses in the case, were still in Castries.’ With the authority of 18 U.S.C. The aim of line-ups is to give the witness a fair test of …

While witness protection typically concludes after a trial has ended, there are cases in which a material witness needs to be provided with a new identity, and given a new life in which he continues to live under government protection. That question came to light recently after a New York woman was served with what is known as a material witness warrant, arrested, and interrogated her for 18 hours over a two-day span. A material witness is an individual who contains information "material" to a criminal proceeding. material witness n. a person who apparently has information about the subject matter of a lawsuit or criminal prosecution which is significant enough to affect the outcome of the case or trial. § 3144, the United States government can seek a warrant from a judicial officer in order to arrest a material witness. Sometimes a material witness is charged with a crime as a result of that investigation. Prosecutors claimed she had information regarding an insurance fraud case investigation of a police officer, but officers arrested and detained the wrong woman. Witness identification evidence is the second most incriminating type of evidence bar a confession (Brandon & Davies, 1973 – as cited by Valentine & Heaton, 1999).

However, The Innocence Project reports it is also the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the US, more specifically, 72% of DNA exoneration cases since 1989. Witness protection is usually provided by local police or other law enforcement officials.

For example: "A winner... a master of the crime grime of Manhattan... for those who have stalked the criminal courts there's tremendous authenticity." Since September 11, for example, some courts have issued material witness arrest warrants without any clear evidence that the witness will flee. As a result, some individuals who were never charged with a crime spent more time in prison then many people convicted of crimes. To do so, a United States official must file an affidavit with the judicial officer alleging that (1) the individual has material information to the criminal proceeding and (2) it would be "impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena."