Lecture on Federal Criminal Prosecutions

Mr. Michael Beckwith and Mr. James Ewing conducted a seminar on the federal criminal prosecutions in MAJ Ronald Alcala's Jurisprudence and Legal Theory class. Mr. Beckwith, who is an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Eastern District of California, discussed the prosecution of federal crimes at the trial level. Mr. Beckwith explained various advantages of federal prosecutions, the complexities of the investigative process, and ways of establishing criminal intent in federal cases. Mr. Ewing, who is an AUSA in the Appellate Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and a Military Judge in the USAR, explained some of the peculiarities of his office. Mr. Ewing explained that because the District of Columbia is not a state and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is responsible for prosecuting both federal and local crimes in Washington. In essence, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia serves as both the local and the federal prosecutor for the nation's capital, responsible for prosecuting a variety of cases, including misdemeanor drug possession, murder, child pornography, financial fraud, and terrorism. Messrs. Beckwith and Ewing concluded by providing several case examples of recent federal prosecutions.