When a defendant decides to cooperate, he or she signs a cooperation agreement stating their willingness to assist in the government’s investigation. This means that the defendant will provide the government with information and is required to testify at trial or testify in the grand jury if the prosecutor decides it is necessary. However, a cooperating defendant is not limited to these two tasks and is obligated to do whatever prosecutors feel is helpful to the investigation.
To safety valve is when the defendant meets with the prosecutors in a closed door meeting and shares information about the crimes he or she is charged with. The information obtained in these meetings is not disseminated. Some defendants think that if they safety valve truthfully, the government will use the information to make an arrest and then reveal the identity of the defendant as the one who gave up the information. This is not true for various reasons.
It is not in the government’s interest to disseminate information given by a defendant. The government knows that if a defendant is identified as an informant his or her safety is potentially in danger. If defendants thought their lives were at risk they would not safety valve. And remember, THE GOVERNMENT DOES WHAT IS IN THE INTEREST OF THE GOVENMENT. It is in the government’s interest to obtain quality information, and by protecting the identities of those who safety valve, the government reassures defendants that it is safe to share information.
Another reason the government does not disseminate information is because unlike a defendant who agrees to cooperate with the government, a safety valve defendant only agrees to share what he or she knows about certain crimes. In the United States every defendant has a right to confront their accuser. However, a safety valve defendant does not agree to testify or otherwise assist the prosecutors, so any arrests made based on the information a defendant shares in a safety valve session would be useless. The safety valve defendant is not bound to appear as a witness and testify against the newly arrested individual. Instead, the government may use the information received from a safety valve session to alert agents and police of individuals involved criminal activities in the United States or South America. The government then builds a new case, independent of the safety valve defendant’s case. This way, the identity of the safety valve defendant is protected and he or she does not have to testify in court.
Think about it, 99% of all defendants in extradition cases do not know who the informant is.