Conspiracy

Conspiracy is an unclear crime and it is similar to the crimes of solicitation and attempt, it is an in complete crime. The act of conspiracy involves making a pact to some action or not to do some action with another person. As opposed to solicitation and attempt, when convicted of the completed crime, conspiracy remains a unique criminal charge.

Wisconsin Law Requires more than one Conspirator:
In order to form a criminal conspiracy in Wisconsin, there must be at least two people involved, however, there is no maximum to the number of co-conspirators involved in the charge.

Multiple coconspirators and only one Defendant:
There can be some circumstances where there are two or more people involved in a conspiracy but only one person is charged. To be a conspirator you must have the mental intent to carry out the crime. Any person who agrees with the conspiracy but does not have the mental intent to carry out the crime, has not criminal liability. Often times however when police arrest people in a conspiracy, they arrest all conspirators not considering whether they have the mental intent.

If an informant forms a pact with another person for the goal of forming a conspiracy, a true conspiracy has not formed. Wisconsin law however states that if one of the parties to the two-party conspiracy is an informant, then a conspiracy was formed. If one party had the goal of carrying out the crime, then a criminal conspiracy existed.

Multiple Conspiracies & Multiple Crimes:
If the conspiracies goal is to commit multiple crimes, then the defendants could be charged with criminal conspiracy for each crime. If the goal was to commit multiple crimes and one crime was carried out, then the defendants would each be charged with conspiracy for the crimes not carried out and the completed crime.

Conspirator Accomplice Liability:
An accomplice is a person who is party to the crime before, during, and after. A conspirator who plans, hires, advises, counsels or otherwise helps another to commit a crime is deemed an accomplice to the crime. Accomplice liability states that if you are an accomplice to the crime, you are guilty of that crime. For example, under accomplice theory, a conspirator who helps with the crime is an accomplice and is guilty of the crime, unless he leaves the conspiracy. Another part of accomplice theory is that the conspirator is guilty of all the crimes carried out by the conspiracy, including any crimes that may have been unintentional or outside the original purpose of the conspiracy.

Stopping a Conspiracy:
According to Wisconsin law if there is a conspiracy and one of the conspirators has a change of heart and he wants to leave the conspiracy, he must withdraw from the conspiracy and tell other people about his withdrawal with a sufficient amount of time before the crime is committed so that others can leave too. If the departure from the conspiracy is not voluntary then the conspirator can still be charged with criminal conspiracy. The most common form of involuntary withdrawal is arrest.

Exceptions to Notification:
There are certain circumstances that allow a person to depart a conspiracy without telling people and still avoid criminal action. These specific circumstances can vary but they deal with the conspirator or family members being threatened or some harm coming to them if the conspiracy were to know about the departure.