While many crimes are committed by a single offender, others are committed by two or more. When people team up to transgress, associated communication takes place and division of labor is established. In criminal organizations, orders are issued and received through whispers and code. In the case of an angry mob, “let’s get him!” might be a call to action, while desperados may discuss plans and tactics at a hideout roundtable. In any case, when such agreements are followed by one of the insiders taking a step in furtherance of that crime, it then becomes real.
Criminal Conspiracy
RCW 9A.28.040 establishes that a “person is guilty of criminal conspiracy when, with intent that conduct constituting a crime be performed, he or she agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct, and any one of them takes a substantial step in pursuance of such agreement.”
In common parlance, when two or more people communicate plans to commit a crime, and then that plan begins to materialize by actions of at least one conspirator, the crime of criminal conspiracy is then committed by any and all who were criminally involved in the plan. Inaction by any of the plan’s insiders is no defense to charges since the elements of the offense require nothing more than agreement among offenders followed by any single conspirator’s step in furtherance.
A “substantial step in pursuance of such agreement” is recognized by courts as any act that was conducted by an offender that, in the mind of the offender or the co-conspirator, constituted a material portion of the process of actual commission of the crime.
Charges of criminal conspiracy apply individually to an offender, and do not depend on the satisfaction of the elements of the crime by others involved in the conspiracy nor on the outcomes of the trials of co-conspirators. For example, one conspirator might be a police agent posing as a criminal and therefore have no criminal intent, and one conspirator might be acquitted while his consort is found guilty of the same crime.
Get Legal Help
Agreement exists in the minds of individuals. Just as parties to a conversation might experience misunderstanding with regard to one another upon direct communication, third parties, such as police and prosecutors, might misconstrue communications and actions of those they observe in real time or in reports. Furthermore, the monitoring or recording of communication among citizens is subject to rigorous constitutional guidelines, and is allowable only under circumstances of a properly executed warrant or very narrowly defined exceptions to the need for a warrant.
Prosecuting attorneys work hard to try cases against criminal conspirators. If you or a loved one has been charged with criminal conspiracy, you need a hard-working and experienced criminal attorney on your side. Protect your rights, protect your freedom, and ensure that your true intentions are not misconstrued. Contact the criminal defense lawyers at The Nahajski Firm at (206) 621-0500 for a free and confidential initial consultation