which may be the essence of the crime. You need to, in effect, draw a picture and tell a story. What
did the defendant do? How did he do it? How does the evidence prove this? The prosecutor cannot
simply walk into court with a box of documents and expect to prove anything. If he throws them on the
judge's desk, the judge may just throw them back. The judge may know nothing about the military at
all. Spell the case out in a form that the prosecutor will be able to explain in court. The cases are
complex, but it is our job to translate a maze of documents into something we can go into court
with...and win. Remember that you are the main government witness, since you have put the
investigative effort together. It is YOUR case. Do not throw it away at the end. Remember, a good
example of packaging a case is at Appendix C of the regulation. It separates the "crime package" as
follows:
1. Introductory summary (narrative regarding the type of offenses involved, statutes
violated, loss to the government, etc.).
2. Description of the defendants.
3. Description of offenses. This is a detailed analysis of the crimes, from inception to
completion. This is the who, what, when, where, how, and why of the crimes.
4. Results of investigation. A description of the evidence which may be used for proof of
the elements of the statutes violated.
In terms of analyzing the evidence to prove the elements of the statute, one way to do this is
to initially simply set forth each element of the crime and then list, alongside it, each item of proof that
goes to substantiate the existence of that element. That is, of course, the same as the diagrams we
previously did with sections of the U.S. Code. When it comes time to selling the case and putting
together a comprehensible package for someone who has no prior familiarity with the case, this can he
an extremely valuable means of making sense out of a maze of documents and exhibits.
PART B - CRIMES UNDER THE UNITED STATES CODE.
A. 18 USC 2 - Principals.
1. Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels,
commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.
2. Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another
would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.
This section is almost identical to the definition of principals under Article 77, Uniform Code of
Military Justice (UCMJ). Note, however, that the U.S. Code requires the offense to be against the
United States, while the military version requires only an offense under the UCMJ.
MP1022
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