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Venus Pax wrote:srothstein,
I was thinking of the fact that he had already committed at least one crime in the U.S. and was deported back to Columbia. Wouldn't his willful return make him a fugitive? It seems that there would be only a slim chance that she wouldn't know about this.

In normal usage yes it makes him a fugitive. We tend to think of any criminal who is hiding as a fugitive. But in the eyes of the law, who had not yet indicted him for the illegal re-entry, he is not considered a fugitive. In other words, teh cops were not actively looking specifically for him, so this law would not come into play.

Also, he was part of a crime ring. I don't see how she couldn't know about this. I guess the difficult part would be proving it. Is that what you were saying? Or is it simply that living with a criminal and having knowledge of their activities and not reporting them is not a crime?

I'm just wanting to clarify.

You have it right. I know she had to have known as there is no way she could not have known. But we cannot prove it. To make this case, we would have to prove that on a specific occasion they talked about it and what was said.

Consider it like the old cases of the wives of mafia members. They had to have known, but the husbaands kept their work lives separate from their family lives and never ever discussed business with the wives. Thus the wives were legally not part of the conspiracy and could not be charged.

Venus Pax wrote:

Molon_labe wrote:a. she is harboring a fugitive

This doesn't seem to register with most people. I don't understand how she hasn't already been prosecuted for this, considering that the police had been investigating this particular crime ring prior to Joe Horn's incident.

Well, technically, we do not have a harboring a fugitive charge in Texas. Also technically, these two were not fugitives at the time. The charge is hindering apprehension or prosecution. A fugitive is someone who has been indicted already.

The charge of hindering apprehension requires her to hide or conceal the suspect, provide a means of escape, or provide a warning that the police are coming. The mere fact she is dating him, or even living with him is not enough for the hindering charge.

If we could prove that she knew he was committing robberies or burglaries, we could make a conspiracy charge stick. It only takes two people to discuss it and one person to take action. I sincerely doubt we could prove the case though.