Banks v. Dretke

Banks (defendant) was tried for murdering a 16-year-old during a carjacking. Banks had no criminal record, so the prosecution leaned heavily on a paid informant, Farr, who testified that Banks used a gun to commit robberies. The prosecution never disclosed that Farr was a paid informant and repeatedly represented — at trial and afterward — that it had withheld nothing. Farr's testimony was central to the prosecution's argument at sentencing that Banks was dangerous.