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CRM 2000 - 2500

2076. RICO Prosecution Memorandum -- Summary Of The Case

This section summarizes the significant highlights of the evidence in the case and the prosecution theory upon which it is based. The summary should marshal the evidence in a manner likely to provide the reader with a clear understanding of the nature and strength of the evidence. While the Summary section covers the same ground as the Statement of Facts, the latter section requires greater detail and witness attribution.

Because the Summary is a narrative outline of the Facts section, which in turn is to be based strictly on admissible evidence, neither section should contain informant information, general intelligence data or interesting but inadmissible hearsay. It is not the function of the Summary, once the case reaches the prosecution memorandum stage, to establish the significance of the prosecution beyond that suggested by the evidence itself. The strength of the case becomes blurred, not enhanced, by resorting to irrelevant references (from an evidentiary standpoint) to organized crime's involvement or similar allegations. The Summary is essentially equivalent to the government's summation; the Facts section is comparable to a trial brief; neither should stray into areas which the court at trial would not likely permit.