[View here as a Twitter thread]
Mags has a question: “Teri, when you get a minute can you interpret this for the non-lawyers? https://sidebarsblog.com/collusion-crime-mueller-judge-decision/ ”
Let’s call this Twitter Criminal Defense 101. First some background: A law cannot be enforced if it is “unconstitutionally vague.” Unonstitutionally vague means the law fails to provides fair notice of what’s prohibited.
For example “No misbehaving in the park” would be unconstitutionally vague. Remember the Mueller indictment against the 13 Russians & 3 Russian companies for engaging in a large, well funded conspiracy to sway the 2016 election?
One Defendant, Concord, was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the US (371) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/371 …… Concord filed a motion to dismiss the charge alleging that, among other things, 371 is constitutionally vague. (It’s a Hail Mary motion. SCOTUS has already upheld 371.)
The elements of section 371 (Conspiracy to Defraud) are: #1: The defendants entered an agreement #2: to obstruct a function of the government #3: by deceitful or dishonest means #4: and at least one act was taken in furtherance of the conspiracy.
To get a conviction, the prosecutor has to prove all 4 beyond a reasonable doubt. Generally a criminal conspiracy means agreeing to do something illegal. Concord argues that there’s no specific law against “interfering in an election,” so conspiring to do so can’t be a crime.
The court rejected this argument saying that neither the goal of the conspiracy nor the means have to be illegal. It’s enough that deceit was used, and that the intent was to thwart a function of the US government by means of that deceit. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/US-Concord-MTD.pdf …
The court also rejected Concord’s “unconstitutionally vague” argument saying (among other things) that because deceit or trickery is an element of the crime, there is little concern that innocent people (who don’t know they are committing a crime) will be swept into the net.
When @RDEliasonsays “collusion is a crime,” he means that the act of colluding itself (in the colloquial sense) can be the crime. The legal term is still “conspiracy.” Think of it as a wide net that can catch lots of people.
