Intro to Crim Pro
Assessment Questions
Question 1
Which of the following statements about accessories after the fact is not true?
a
Other names for this crime include obstruction of justice, harboring a fugitive, and hindering prosecution, depending on the jurisdiction.
b
An accessory after the fact is guilty of the principal’s underlying crime.
c
Accessory after the fact requires specific intent to help the principal avoid arrest or conviction.
d
Being an accessory after the fact is less serious than committing the underlying crime.
An accessory after the fact is not guilty of the principal’s underlying crime; she’s only guilty of the separate crime of “accessory after the fact” (or obstruction of justice, etc.) To commit this crime, the accessory has to provide help once the crime is over with the intent of helping the principal avoid arrest or conviction.
Question 2
Alice was desperate for money, so she broke into her neighbor’s house and raided the safe. To avoid getting caught, she decided to hide at her friend Debra’s house. She showed up at Debra’s door and asked if she could spend the night because she’d been “having some problems.” Debra let her in and didn’t ask any questions. The next morning over coffee, Alice confided to Debra that she’d burgled the neighbor’s house the previous night. “You don’t need to do anything,” Alice said. “I’m just going to leave now and get out of town.” When the police come to question Debra a few days later, she tells them what she knows. Is Debra an accessory after the fact?
a
Yes, because Debra provided assistance to Alice after she committed a crime.
b
Yes, because Debra should have known that Alice had committed a crime when she made a vague reference to her “problems.”
c
No, because Debra didn’t know Alice committed a crime and didn’t take any actions to help Alice avoid arrest.
d
No, because even if Debra had known about the crime, letting Alice hide at her house wouldn’t have been enough to make her an accessory.
This question turns on Debra’s lack of knowledge and her resulting inability to form the mens rea required for an accessory after the fact. Alice didn’t tell Debra she was hiding from the police, and Debra had no other way of knowing Alice had committed a crime. To be an accessory after the fact, you have to know that the principal committed the crime, and you have to intend to help the principal avoid arrest or conviction. If Debra had possessed that knowledge and intent, then letting Alice stay in her guest room would be exactly the kind of help this crime is meant to punish.
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