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Supreme Court of New Jersey - 628 A.2d 270
Tags: Criminal law, Conspiracy
tl;dr:
Where the criminal act was an objectively foreseeable consequence of a criminal conspiracy, the co-conspirator could be held liable even without the requisite mens rea for the substantive crime.Video Summary
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The defendant was convicted of conspiracy and murder charges, but the Appellate Division reversed the substantive criminal convictions, stating that co-conspirator liability for substantive crimes requires specific intent. The Supreme Court of New Jersey upheld the conspiracy and armed robbery convictions, but reversed the kidnapping and armed assault on police convictions. The Court reaffirmed the principles of co-conspirator liability, stating that a conspirator is responsible for all criminal acts committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. The lower court's interpretation of the Pinkerton rule was incorrect. The trial court's instruction to the jury was broadly consistent with the standard expressed in Stein but did not sufficiently inform the jury in accordance with the standard that should govern the jury's determination of criminal liability.
The court's decision to impose a life sentence based on a negligent appraisal of the risk of someone committing a homicide is not in line with the Code of Criminal Justice. The law of conspiracy serves to protect society from the danger of concerted criminal activity and inchoate or uncompleted crimes. The Pinkerton doctrine is a form of accomplice liability under N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6b(4), requiring that an accomplice share the criminal purpose of the actor to be convicted of a substantive offense. The Court's decision to penalize a conspirator more severely than a principal or accomplice in a criminal combination contradicts the principles of justice established by the Code. The Code's provisions on "Liability for the conduct of another; complicity" lack precision, but the Court should interpret it in a way that furthers the general purposes of the Code and is consistent with its overall structure.
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