The Offense of Conspiracy Summary

The Offense of Conspiracy
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The Offense of Conspiracy
The Defendants in the case of State v. Dent was charged with the offense of conspiring to commit first-degree murder. Conspiracy in criminal law denotes an agreement between parties to commit a certain crime. Furthermore, conspiracy just as solicitation is considered inchoate offenses. In inchoate offenses, liability is usually attached mandatorily despite the outcome of the crime. Therefore, if two individuals decided to rob a bank, and they get caught in the act, then the offense of conspiracy still suffices. In such a scenario, the inchoate offense is the conspiracy to commit the crime, while robbery is the substantive crime. The court considers the perpetrator's agreement to commit the crime as sufficient men's rea for the offense. It is usually referred to as the distinct evil. The key elements required for a charge of conspiracy to suffice to include Existing agreement, amongst individuals, whose purpose is to commit a crime, and finally the existence of an overt act.
Existing agreement
Ideally, the element of the existing agreement is indeed the most essential. Besides, some jurisdictions only check on the element for the offense to suffice. In the United States, the courts universally agreed that two people are enough to form a conspiracy. Furthermore, the latter is also in line with the rule of consistency which suggests further that there ought to be at least two guilty minds who agree on committing a crime sincerely. Therefore, the latter denotes that if one of the parties (Co inspirator) is acquitted of then the charge of conspiracy fails to suffice for the other party as well. Nevertheless, the status quo shifts when an individual is prosecuted for the offense separately. In such a case the offense is likely to suffice regardless of one of the parties being acquitted according to the unilateral approach which compels the court to proceed with the case despite there being only one guilty mind (Criminal Law: The Crime of Conspiracy, n.d.).
Overt Act
In addition to the agreement, there has to be an action that affirms the party's ill intentions. Ideally, an overt act is essential as it provides for a clear distinction between a plan to conduct ...