Cite as: 523 U. S. 538 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
and certain members of Del Frate's family regarded Del Frate as dishonest, that Del Frate shared a jail cell with David Leitch prior to meeting Thompson, that Del Frate's statements to police tracked newspaper accounts of the crime, and that Del Frate neglected to mention at trial his prior convictions for grand theft and distribution of hallucinogens without a license.
This impeachment evidence provides no basis for finding a miscarriage of justice. As in Sawyer, the evidence is a step removed from evidence pertaining to the crime itself. 505 U. S., at 348. It tends only to impeach the credibility of Fink and Del Frate. To find that these matters in all probability would have altered the outcome of Thompson's trial, we should have to assume, first, that there was little evidence of rape apart from the informant's testimony; and second, that the jury accepted the informants' testimony without reservation. The former assumption is belied by the evidence recited above. The latter one is belied by the substantial impeachment evidence Thompson's attorney did introduce.
With regard to Fink, Thompson's trial counsel presented the following evidence: Fink had four prior felony convictions and had spent a total of 14 years in prison at the time of trial. He used heroin on a frequent basis during the 15 years preceding trial, including the period in which he gave his statement to police. He lied about his identity as a matter of routine. He acted as an informant on numerous other occasions, including one occasion where he informed on another inmate to gain protective custody in prison. He requested and received a transfer to another penal facility in exchange for his statement against Thompson. And he admitted being unable to explain why criminals confessed to him with such frequency.
With regard to Del Frate, Thompson's trial counsel presented the following evidence: Del Frate had served time for second-degree murder and credit card forgery. At the time
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