A conspiracy is an organized execution of an offense involving more than one individual. Prosecutors often charge this crime as a felony. According to California law, conspiracy to commit murder attracts punishment mirroring the underlying murder charge. If you or a loved one is facing accusations or charges of conspiracy to commit murder, it is crucial to consult a competent criminal attorney to help you create a defense to fight the charges.

Conspiracy To Commit Murder Explained

Many States in the United States have a common understanding of the offense of conspiracy to commit murder. This is a criminal offense, and the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. The prosecutor must provide substantial evidence that you conspired to murder another person. Generally, before the prosecutor convicts you of conspiracy to commit murder, there is a high standard of proof he/she must achieve. Some of the elements the prosecutor must prove to charge you with this offense include the following:

  • You agreed with one or more individuals to intentionally and unlawfully kill another person.
  • At least one of the individuals involved commits some act to further the agreement.

An ''agreement'' does not have to be complete in detail or clearly articulated. In most States, you could be guilty of conspiracy if one of the co-conspirators takes some ‘’overt act’’ to further the agreement or the conspiracy. The critical point is being aware that the agreement aims to intentionally murder another person, and you agree to engage in the offense.

An ‘’Overt Act’’

The term ‘’overt act’’ means that one member of the agreement or conspiracy must take a bold step to advance the crime of conspiracy. An overt act should happen after you agree to murder but before completing the murder. Generally, an overt act does not necessarily have to be murder but one that exceeds an agreement to murder. An overt act also does not necessarily have to be unlawful. For example, an overt act to advance murder could constitute any of the following actions:

  • Renting a hotel room for the person that will commit the crime
  • Giving a co-conspirator instruction on how to shoot a weapon
  • Making a phone call to help arrange for a car which the killer will use to escape

Additionally, most jurisdictions in the United States have a common understanding regarding ‘’the act that furthers an agreement’’. According to this understanding, you could face charges for this crime if you engage in a specific act that assists the group in advancing the crime of murder. Examples of particular actions you could engage in to further a murder crime include:

  • Organizing for the alleged victim to be at a particular place at a specific time
  • Renting a get-away car
  • Buying the murder weapon

You could face similar penalties for conspiracy to murder someone else would have faced for the actual murder charges. However, for you to be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, an actual murder does not have to occur. It is the agreement to murder that makes up the crime but not the actual offense itself. You will face penalties based on the state where the conspiracy occurred and the facts of your charges.

Misconceptions Regarding Conspiracy To Commit Murder

There are several misconceptions regarding a conspiracy to commit murder regarding in California. Some of the misconceptions include the following:

An Explicit Agreement Must Exist For The Charges To Apply

You can have an agreement that clearly outlines the intention to kill another person. However, in the case of conspiracy to commit murder, the agreement could also be inferred from your behavior. However, whether the agreement is inferred or clearly stated, it must outline an intention to murder someone else.

For example, you could be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder if you meet with a person in a park and plan to murder another person. You could face the charges even if you did not explicitly agree on every detail of the murder. The agreement does not have to bear fruits in a single moment; it can take place over time. Additionally, you do not have to be aware of the following:

  • All of the members involved in the agreement
  • All of the details of the agreement

You only need to be aware that the specific intent of the agreement is to murder and agree to participate in the agreement.

You Can Only Face Charges If You Are Present At The Murder Scene

You don’t have to be present at the murder scene to face conspiracy to commit murder charges. The conspiracy charge focuses mainly on whether you were a member of an agreement to violate the law. In the conspiracy to commit murder case, what constitutes this crime is your relationship with other individuals who intentionally want to murder another person. So what counts is if you acted with another person and there was:

  • An attempted murder
  • A plan or intent to kill someone
  • Some solicitation to commit murder

You do not need to be physically present at the murder scene to be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

Penalties For Conspiracy To Commit Murder Charges

According to California law, conspiracy to commit murder is a felony offense. The California murder statute PC 187(a) defines murder as the unlawful killing of a person with malice aforethought. A person who conspires to commit murder faces similar penalties as someone who commits murder. You could face murder charges based on the degree as follows:

First-degree Murder

If the prosecutor charges you with first-degree murder, you could face 25 years to life in state prison. In addition, you could face a life sentence penalty without the possibility of parole if you commit a hate offense, murder. A hate offense murder is based on the victim’s gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, or race.

Second-degree Murder

You could face 15 years to life in a state prison if the prosecutor charges you with second-degree murder. However, some factors could enhance your sentence. For example, if you served a prior murder sentence, you could face life imprisonment without parole.

You could also face 20 years to life imprisonment if you shot the victim from a vehicle and intended to cause serious injury to the victim. You could also face 25 years to life imprisonment if you conspired to murder a peace officer. Additionally, you could face life imprisonment with no possibility of parole if the victim is a peace officer and you intend to kill or kill them using a deadly weapon.

California murder statute could also subject you to additional penalties. The other penalties could include the following:

  • Loss of gun rights according to Penal Code 29800 ‘’felon with a firearm’’ law
  • A fine that does not exceed $10,000
  • Victim restitution
  • Sentencing enhancements if the crime is gang-related or you used the gun
  • A ‘’strike’’ according to California’s three-strikes law
  • Additional 10, 20, or 25 years to life in prison if you intended to use a gun in your conspiracy to murder

You could also be ordered to register as a Tier 3 sex offender for life if the court charges you with conspiracy to commit murder while attempting to commit the following:

  • Forcible penetration with a foreign object
  • Sodomy
  • Rape
  • Oral copulation with a minor
  • Lewd acts with a child under 14

You could also face negative immigration repercussions if the court convicts you of a conspiracy to commit murder. According to United States immigration law, certain kinds of criminal charges can lead to:

  • A non-citizen being marked as inadmissible
  • A non-citizen being deported

The class of inadmissible or deportable offenses includes aggravated felonies and offenses of moral turpitude.

Additionally, if the court convicts you of conspiracy to commit murder, the conviction could have a negative effect on your gun rights. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess or acquire a gun in California.

Defenses To The Charges Of Conspiracy To Commit Murder

You could use several defenses in California to fight your conspiracy to commit murder charges. Some of these defenses include:

 Withdrawal From The Conspiracy To Commit Murder

''Withdrawal'' is a common defense used by defendants facing conspiracy charges to commit murder. You cannot face charges for this crime if you do the following:

  • Tell your co-conspirators that you are abandoning the plan
  • Withdraw from the conspiracy

While you can contest these charges with other arguments, you must seek the services of a competent criminal defense attorney.

Mistaken Identification

The most significant cause of wrongful convictions in California is mistaken identification. Mistaken identification has led to the conviction of more innocent people than all other causes combined. The following factors could affect an eyewitness's ability to recognize a suspect:

  • Improper suggestions by the police
  • The passage of time
  • The suspect is of a different race
  • Intoxication
  • The stress of the encounter

It is common for prosecutors in California to base their charges on questionable eyewitness identification. However, your criminal defense attorney could take several measures, including:

  • Seeking the services of an eyewitness expert during trial — The expert could help the jury understand how memory works, and the jury would see how common mistakes are.
  • Contesting the police procedures in the previous photo spreads and lineups and seeking to get the identifications excluded from the evidence
  • Demanding a lineup to establish if the eyewitness really can distinguish and identify you

Your attorney is only required to prove that the identification is not valid and that there is reasonable doubt as to the identity of the real perpetrator.

You Are A Victim Of Illegal Search And Seizure

Often, the courts in California permit police to carry out searches or seizures of the suspects’ property or residence. However, the Fourth Amendment limits this freedom. The amendment gives every person the right to be protected against unlawful searches and seizures. If the law enforcers go against the amendment, your defense attorney can request the judge to exclude the unlawfully obtained evidence from the trial. Your attorney could do so via a Penal Code 1538.5 motion to suppress the evidence. It could be hard for the prosecutor to proceed with the case if the judge grants the motion and suppresses the evidence.

False And Coerced Confessions

Social research in the United States shows that coercion leads to widespread prosecution and convictions of most innocent people. Police coercion is unlawful, but it is rare. The law enforcers are supposed to follow constitutional guidelines while investigating the crime of conspiracy to commit murder. The court does not admit the evidence from coerced confessions from a suspect of conspiracy to commit murder. Unlawful and coercive interrogation methods that the law enforcers could use include:

  • Threatening to kill you if you do not admit to the crime
  • Threatening you or your family members
  • Promising you lenient treatment if you admit to the crime

The court could exclude the confession from the evidence if the law enforcers coerced you to provide an involuntary confession.

The Insanity Defense And The M'Naghten Rule

Insanity is one of the special defense strategies you could use to contest your conspiracy to commit murder charges. Under California law, the M'Naghten test is the legal standard for insanity. According to this test, you must provide sufficient evidence that you only conspired to commit murder because of the following:

  • You were not able to differentiate between right and wrong
  • You did not understand the nature of the act

The judge could dismiss the charges against you if your attorney convinces the jury to use this defense.

Self-Defense or Defense Of Others

The self-defense statutes in California allow killing in some circumstances. According to California homicide law, murder is justified if you reasonably believe you are facing an imminent danger of:

  • Being robbed, raped, maimed, or victim of some other forcible and atrocious offense
  • Suffering a significant bodily injury
  • Being murdered

California is one of the States in the United States that has a Flannel or imperfect self-defense doctrine. Individuals kill others based on an honest but unreasonable conception they could be in imminent danger. This defense cannot convince the judge to drop your conspiracy to commit murder charges. The judge can only reduce the charges to voluntary manslaughter.

Accidental Murder

The defense of accidental murder is a valid defense to charges of conspiracy to commit murder if the following is true:

  • You had no criminal intent to do harm
  • You were not acting negligently
  • You were engaged in lawful activity at the time of the killing

Related Offenses

There are other offenses related to the crime of conspiracy to commit murder. They include:

Aiding And Abetting — Penal Code 31

It is a crime under Penal Code 31 for anyone to encourage or aid in the commission of a crime. The prosecutor could convict you of aiding and abetting if you:

  • You are aware of the perpetrator’s unlawful plan
  • Intentionally encourage or facilitate that plan
  • Promote, instigate, or aid the offense

Generally, if you aid and abet an offense, you could face similar penalties as the one who directly commits the crime. For example, a person who aids and abets a murder offense typically faces life in prison, just like someone who actually kills.

However, several defenses are available to contest your Penal Code 31 charges. A competent California criminal defense attorney could present the defenses on your behalf. They include:

  • You only facilitated the offense after its commission
  • You had no duty to act
  • You withdrew from participation in the criminal activity
  • You are a victim of false accusation
  • You did not encourage, aid, or facilitate the crime’s commission

Attempt — Penal Code 664

It is a crime in Penal Code 664 for an individual to attempt to commit a crime. An attempted offense involves trying to violate the law but failing to achieve the criminal objective for whatever reason. However, the prosecutor must prove the following elements to charge you with an attempt:

  • You intended to commit a specific offense, and
  • You performed a direct act toward committing that offense

Examples of attempted offenses include:

  • Attempt to commit rape
  • Attempted robbery
  • Attempt to commit murder

The law could punish you for attempted crimes because of the following:

  • Attempted crimes often cause some type of harm that warrants punishment
  • Because criminal liability should not be eliminated because bad luck hinders a crime
  • To deter other people from trying to violate the law

Generally, if the prosecutor charges you with attempted crime, you could face the following penalties:

  • A jail term that does not exceed one year, or
  • A fine if the offense was completed

You can as well contest your attempt charges using the following defenses:

  • You abandoned the attempt
  • You had no intent to commit an offense
  • No act in furtherance of the attempted crime
  • Mistaken identity

Find a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me

Facing conspiracy to commit murder charges can be a terrifying experience. Murder charges in California attract harsh and severe penalties. If you face conspiracy to commit murder charges, you should consult a skilled criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. The LA Criminal Defense Law Firm has decades of combined experience in California’s legal system. This kind of experience is invaluable to our clients because it often assists us in understanding the tactics prosecutors use and what we can do to build strong defenses. Contact us today at 310-935-1675 and talk to one of our attorneys.