Also known as: cahoots · collusion · conspiracy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An informal expression describing parties who have formed a conspiracy through an agreement to pursue an unlawful objective with the shared intent to accomplish that objective.
Ingrid Innes and Israel Irving met privately and agreed that Ingrid would delete failure entries from a digital test database so substandard panels could ship on time. Israel agreed to supply login credentials and help mask the failures in the summary language. Their mutual understanding and intent to carry out the falsification established the elements of conspiracy.
Iris Irons and Idina Iverson agreed to falsify disbursement sheets to divert client funds. While the plan was ongoing, Idina told a third party that the revised sheets would be ready the following week. The statement was offered against Iris as a coconspirator declaration made during and in furtherance of their agreement.
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Imran Iyer and Isabelle Inman agreed late one evening to enter a restricted storage room after hours and remove diagnostic devices for resale. Each acted with the purpose of promoting the theft by coordinating their approach through a patient corridor. Their shared purpose to facilitate commission of the crime satisfied the conspiracy definition.
Ingrid Innes proposed altering disbursement sheets to divert client funds and Israel Irving nodded, stated he understood, promised to prepare the revised sheets, and shook hands on the plan. No further steps occurred after the handshake. The agreement itself supplied the actus reus for conspiracy.
Iris Irons agreed with Idina Iverson to falsify test data on wing panels. Iris later learned that Idina had already agreed with another engineer to falsify data on additional panels for the same program. Iris became guilty of conspiring with the second engineer even without knowing that person's identity.
Imran Iyer and Isabelle Inman agreed to steal devices and completed the theft after Imran injected a patient to clear their path. The completed theft was treated as the felony. Their inchoate conspiracy merged into the completed offense and could not support a separate conviction.
Yes. Under the traditional common law definition the agreement itself constitutes the culpable act and the prosecution need not prove any additional overt act.
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Yes. At common law a conspiracy exists only if at least two participants genuinely share a criminal objective. If one party merely pretends to agree the other cannot be convicted.
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No. At common law a defendant may not invoke factual impossibility as a defense to conspiracy. The agreement and intent remain sufficient even when external facts make the objective impossible.
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Yes. At common law a conspiracy existed so long as the parties agreed to pursue an unlawful objective or to achieve a lawful objective by unlawful means.
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…March 1, 1974, a grand jury returned an indictment charging seven named individuals with various offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice. Although not designated in the indictment, the grand jury named the President among others as an unindicted co-conspirator. On April…