If you have been charged with an inchoate crime it means that you intended to carry out the crime but were apprehended or stopped in the process. For example, if you tried to escape from a retail store with items you did not purchase in your bag, but never made it through the door before you were stopped, then you can be charged for an inchoate crime. Essentially, an inchoate crime is one that you would have carried out if you hadn’t been stopped from doing so. In the past, inchoate crimes were always regarded as minor offenses. This is because no harm was actually done.
Now, some inchoate crimes are considered serious felonies that come with years in prison. Threats and challenges are often considered inchoate crimes, as well as attempted to commit the crime but failing to do so. If you were an accomplice in a criminal attempt, you can also be charged with an inchoate crime. Conspiracy is also sometimes considered an inchoate crime. In some cases, if the crime was carried out, then conspiracy can be charged as an extra offense in order to lengthen an offender’s sentence. For example, someone who killed a family member can be charged with familial and conspiracy to commit familial murder if it can be proved that the criminal planned the actions beforehand.
Another inchoate crime is solicitation to commit a crime. This is when you hire another individual to do the dirty work for you in exchange for money, a favor, or another type of payment. If the person who was solicited doesn’t commit the crime as ordered, the solicitor can still be charged for the action of soliciting. This is because whether or not the murder was carried out or the home was robbed, the solicitor intended for it to be done.
In most cases, a person who physically committed a crime is called the principle. The person who helps the principal in committing the crime is referred to as the accomplice. A third party that offers some sort of aid is often called an accessory. For example, a principle would be the person who killed a man in a Chinese restaurant. An accomplice would be the man who lured that victim to the restaurant by inviting him out to eat with full intention of the crime that would take place. An accessory would be the owner of the restaurant who gave the principle permission to carry out the crime and made sure that the environment was secure.
Whether you are a principle, accomplice, or accessory in a case you may be charged with an inchoate crime. According to most state law codes, a person cannot be charged with an inchoate offense and an actual crime at the same time. For example, a person cannot be charged with attempted robbery and robbery. The only exception to this rule is when a person can be charged with conspiracy and then the crime that was committed following the conspiracy. As well, the law outlines that if someone is charged with an inchoate crime, it must involve some outward action of a substantial step in the completion of the crime.
If you were charged with an inchoate crime, but all you did was pick up a shirt in a retail store and walk near the exit, this is not enough to merit your charges. Yet if you hid the shirt in a tin-foil lined shopping bag and proceeded towards the exit, this would be considered a substantial step and would merit your arrest. If you have been charged with an inchoate crime, then talk to a criminal defense lawyer today to develop a defense for your case. Because the crime was not actually carried out, you may be able to argue that you have been framed, or that the police were mistaken and you never and an intention to carry out your crime.
