Misprision of a Felony

United States v. Caraballo-Rodriguez, 480 F.3d 62 (1st Cir. 2007)

At great length, the First Circuit reviews the elements of a misprision of a felony offense, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4. This case arose in the context of a defendant who avoided considerably more serious charges by entering a guilty plea to a misprision offense, and then challenged the sufficiency of the factual basis for the plea. The First Circuit devoted considerable attention to the issue of when the failure to report a crime may be prosecuted under the statute. In this case, the evidence supported the guilty plea, because the defendant was a law enforcement officer who had a duty to report a crime and his failure to do so was misprision of a felony. The court noted that there is considerable tension between the crime of misprision and the Fifth Amendment when the person who failed to report the offense was also a participant in the criminal conduct. The court also observed that there is no clear rule regarding when a duty to report a crime arises in situation where the defendant is not a law enforcement officer.