Conspiracy Question Forum

[Mce252]

Conspiracy to solicit - this is an offense, right? When B agrees with A to help find someone to commit the target offense. If so, where does the liability via Pinkerton end? When the soliciation is complete? Or when the target offense solicited is complete?

[zomginternets]

No such thing as conspiracy to solicit. Asking someone to help you execute a crime is solicitation. As soon as the other person agrees to help, it's conspiracy. So in your example, once B has agreed to help A, B is liable for conspiracy, and thus liable under Pinkerton for the crimes committed in furtherance/reasonably foreseeable consequence/[forgot the other prong] of the conspiracy, which certainly includes the crime that A solicited help to commit.

[Mce252]

Asking someone to help you with a crime isn't a solicitation under the common law. It has to be a "do it for me, not with me" type of relationship under the common law. It brings accomplice liability through the aid rendered but not for solicitation. The model penal code is different.

I don't see why conspiracy to solicit wouldn't be a crime. It's unlawful activity agreed upon between two or more people. Thus, the goal of their agreement is to solicit a party to commit a crime.

I can see what you mean that Pinkerton is going to obviously hold both parties liabile for any further crimes becasue they are foreseeable and within the scope of a planned solicitation, but my point is that if they were arrested at that moment before the solicited party either turned them down or couldn't be found, a conspiracy to solicit seems to be applicable. At least I still don't see why not.

[zomginternets]

Sorry I misread your question, I thought it was just A asking B, not that A agrees with B to ask C.

Conspiracy also requires an overt act toward the end served. So both A and B would have to do something to effectuate the asking of C to commit a crime in order for both A and B to be guilty of conspiracy to solicit C. I don't see any theoretical reason why this couldn't happen.

This sounds like a question for your prof.