On Oct 4, 2011, at 12:13 PM, mail.bobparks.com wrote: > So, if you and I commit a crime together it's ok for us to get together and > get our story straight in order to avoid prosecution? > > On Oct 4, 2011, at 10:43 AM, John Vega <[email protected]> wrote: > >> If I'm interrogated by the police, I can still discuss what questions were >> asked without committing an additional crime.
Complex question. Historically, assisting someone who has committed a crime in concealing it was called conspiracy after the fact. There were differing laws and penalties for before the fact (assist in planning the crime, e.g.) and after the fact. In most jurisdictions, those have both been merged into being an "accessory." So, in your hypo, one might think that we are accessories. However, there are two problems with that line of thought. First, in your example, we committed the crime. I don't think that one can be an accessory to one's own crime. One is generally a lesser included offense of the other, and we would be guilty of the primary (the greater) of the two crimes. Second, a requirement of the offense is knowledge that the conduct was illegal. Given what I know of Sharif's incident, I can easily see a situation where the athletes do not believe that their conduct was improper. Finally, there was no indication that the athletes told anything other than the truth. If I tell the truth, tell you the questions that were asked, and tell you to tell the truth, I don't think that I have committed an offense anywhere other than NCAA-land. -Zeb -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
