5.8 INFORMERS AND UNDERCOVER AGENTS

• Jurisdiction: Virginia
• Library: Defending Criminal Cases in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2025 Ed.)

5.8 INFORMERS AND UNDERCOVER AGENTS

Today, the use of informers and undercover agents is an integral and accepted part of crime detection and prevention. The Supreme Court has broadly approved the use of agents, including those wired to record or transmit conversations. ¹²⁵⁶ Agents or informants who engage the defendant in conversation or who, otherwise lawfully present even by deception, ¹²⁵⁷ overhear conversations and report, record, or transmit to other law enforcement officials, may do so without complying with the warrant and probable cause mandates of the Fourth Amendment. As the Supreme Court stated in Hoffa v. United States, ¹²⁵⁸ the Fourth...