Conspiracy Flashcards
Conspiracy: Common Law
An [intended] agreement -
1) Between two or more persons –
(At common law, the agreement must be bilateral.)
2) Made with the intent to commit a crime.
(No Overt Acts are Necessary)
Actus Reus = entering into an agreement.
Conspiracy: unilateral approach
- criminal conspiracy occurs even where one of the two co-conspirators is an undercover police agent or informant.
Under a unilateral statute, look to the subjective behavior of the defendant. What did he intend or believe with respect to the agreement?
Conspiracy = Inchoate Offense
Conspiracy is an inchoate offense. No substantive offense is ever needed.
A conviction may be obtained even when the goal of the conspiracy is impossible.
MPC: Conspiracy
The MPC and most state statutes require only a unilateral agreement.
Mens Rea:
(2 separate and independent Components)
1) The intent to agree with another person to commit a criminal act; and
2) intent to commit the criminal act itself.
- Specific Intent Crime
Palmer v Colorado
conspiracy to commit reckless manslaughter = illogical
Recklessness = conscious disregard of a substantial / unjustifiable risk
Conspiracy = intentional agreement to “intentionally” commit a specific act.
Federal Conspiracy Law
[i]f two or more persons conspire either to: 1) commit any offense against the United States, or
2) to defraud the United States,
1) an illegal agreement,
2) criminal intent, and
3) proof of an overt act.
Illinois Conspiracy
An intent to commit a crime.
An agreement with one or more others to commit that crime.
An act in furtherance of the crime by at least one of the co-conspirators.
Mendoza: Wharton’s Rule
An agreement between two persons to commit an offense is not a conspiracy when the offense is defined so that it can be committed only by the participation of two persons.
(when a statutory crime requires coalescent conduct, a conspiracy charge is redundant since it requires proof of no additional element than that required of the offense.)
- Agreement is implicit upon proof of the target crime.
Actus Reus: Agreement (State v. Rosado)
- Conspiratorial “agreement” often is established only inferentially and / or circumstantially.
- Totality of the evidence.
Guilty of Conspiracy when:
- with intent that a crime be performed,
- he agrees with one or more persons to commit the crime, and
- any one person commits an overt act in pursuance of the crime.
Overt Acts
- the MPC and Illinois require that one or more of the co-conspirators engage in an overt act towards the completion of the crime.
- act must be alleged and proved to have been committed by one of the conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Conspiracy Mens Rea
conscious objective to agree and to accomplish the result of the crime.
Conspiracy: Mere Presence?
An individual’s mere presence at the scene of the crime, even coupled with knowledge of the crime, is not sufficient to establish his guilt for a conspiracy charge.
Conspiracy: Withdrawal?
It is an affirmative defense that – after conspiring to commit a crime – the accused informed law enforcement about the existence of the conspiracy or otherwise thwarted the commission of any offense in furtherance of the conspiracy.
