Turn state's evidence

To turn state's evidence is for an accused or convicted criminal to testify as a witness for the state against his associates or accomplices. Turning state's evidence is occasionally a result of a change of heart or feelings of guilt, but more often is done in response to a generous offer from the prosecution, such as a reduced sentence or a favorable location for serving time. In particularly high-profile or dangerous cases such as organized crime trials including other federal crimes trials, the witness may be offered immunity from prosecution even if he has committed serious crimes himself, up to and including murder. The state may also offer the witness a place in the witness protection program, giving them a new identity so they need not fear retaliation from their former accomplices.

In the United Kingdom, the term is to turn Queen's or King's evidence, depending on the reigning monarch's gender.

In India (and historically in the British Isles) the term turning approver is used for someone giving full disclosure about a crime in return for pardon under Sections 306-308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, though the term is not used in the Code itself.

Famous cases

Witness	Testified against	Charge(s)	Received for testimony
Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano, mob hit man	John Gotti	racketeering	witness protection, after 5 years in prison
Frank "Curly" Lino of the Bonanno crime family	Ron Filocomo	murder of Sonny Black Napolitano	?
"Easy Eddie" O'Hare, mobster	Al Capone	tax evasion	According to some sources, his son Butch's admission to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis
Harry Orchard, mass murderer	William "Big Bill" Haywood	assassination of former governor of Idaho Frank Steunenberg	?
James Leibrant, accessory to murder	Karla Faye Tucker	murder of Jerry Lynn Dean and Deborah Thornton	full immunity
James Jordan, Klansman and accessory to murder	18 other Klansmen including Neshoba County deputy Cecil Price	murder of three civil rights workers	full immunity, $3500 and help in relocating himself and his family
Christie's auction house	Sotheby's	commission rate-fixing	protection from criminal prosecution (for the business—however the former chairmen of both companies were indicted)
Linda Kasabian, driver of the getaway car in the Tate/LaBianca murders	Charles Manson and other members of the Manson Family	multiple murders	immunity from prosecution
James "Dick" Liddil, bank robber, murderer and member of the James-Younger gang	Jesse James	robbery, murder	immunity from prosecution
Daniel Tucker Bassham, member of the James-Younger gang	William "Whiskey Head" Ryan, member of the James-Younger gang	robbery, murder	10-yr sentence commuted, released from Missouri State Penitentiary
Wayne DuMond, rapist	various acquaintances	murder	pardoned by Gov. Mike Huckabee
John Dean	Richard Nixon and others	Watergate	one to four years in prison. Served in a "safe house" at Fort Holabird
Robert Rozier, murderer and cult member	Hulon Mitchell, Jr. (Yahweh ben Yahweh), cult leader	murder, racketeering	reduced sentence
David Greenglass, spy, passed information about the Manhattan Project to...	...Julius and Ethel Rosenberg	treason, spying	immunity for his wife, who served as his courier
Henry Hill, mobster	Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke	racketeering charges	immunity from prosecution and witness protection for Hill and his family
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, Mafia hit man	Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, members of Murder, Inc.	murder	no death penalty
William Hare, the West Port murders in Edinburgh, Scotland	William Burke	murder	immunity from prosecution
Joseph Massino, Bonanno crime boss			no death penalty

See also

• Plea bargain
• Informant
• Pentito, the equivalent term in Italy in the Mafia and terrorism contexts