Attempt, Solicitation, and Conspiracy

Prosecutors often use charges of Attempt, Solicitation, and Conspiracy as tools to convict defendants in criminal court in Florida. These charges are separate from the actual criminal offenses to which they can attach. Prosecuting attorneys can use nearly every crime in Florida to seek a charge of attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy, and it is up to you and your criminal defense attorney to defend against these charges. To prove the criminal violation of Attempt to Commit a Crime, the State Attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the criminal suspect did some act toward committing the criminal violation that went beyond just thinking or talking about it, and that the criminal suspect would have committed the crime except that someone prevented him or her from committing the criminal violation, or he or she failed to complete the criminal act. It is not an attempt to commit a crime if the criminal suspect abandoned the attempt to commit the offense or otherwise prevented its commission, under circumstances indicating a complete and voluntary renunciation of his or her criminal purpose. To prove the criminal violation of Criminal Solicitation, the State Attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the criminal suspect solicited someone to commit the criminal offense, and that during the solicitation, the criminal suspect commanded, encouraged, hired, or requested the other person to engage in specific conduct, which would constitute the commission of the criminal offense solicited or an attempt to commit the criminal offense solicited. It is not necessary that the criminal suspect do any act in furtherance of the criminal offense solicited. To solicit means to ask earnestly or to try to induce the person solicited to do the criminal act solicited. It is a defense to the charge of criminal solicitation if the criminal suspect, after soliciting the person solicited to commit the criminal offense solicited, persuaded the person solicited not to do so, or otherwise prevented the commission of the criminal offense. To prove the criminal act of Criminal Conspiracy, the State Attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the intent of the criminal suspect was that the underlying criminal offense would be committed. In order to carry out the intent, the criminal suspect must have agreed, conspired, combined, or confederated with the person alleged to have caused the underlying criminal violation to be committed either by them, or one of them, or by some other person. It is not necessary that the agreement, conspiracy, combination, or confederation to commit the underlying criminal act be expressed in any particular words or that words pass between the conspirators. It is not necessary that the criminal suspect do any act in furtherance of the offense conspired. It is a defense to the charge of criminal conspiracy that the criminal suspect, after conspiring with one or more persons to commit the underlying criminal act, persuaded the person alleged not to do so, or otherwise prevented commission of the underlying criminal violation.

Criminal Defense Lawyer Kenneth P. Hassett has the knowledge and experience to advocate for anyone charged with an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy, as well as any of their underlying crimes outlined in the Florida Statutes. He has been in practice since 1991 in the Miami Dade County, Fort Lauderdale, and Broward County. Contact a Miami Solicitation Defense Attorney at Hassett and Associates, P.A. 24 hours per day seven days per week for a free consultation of your rights in a criminal case.

777.04 Attempts, solicitation, and conspiracy.

Disclaimer

The information on this page does not represent legal advice. Florida Statues obtained from Online Sunshine, www.leg.state.fl.us, the official site of the Florida Legislature. Because the law is continually changing, some of the provisions contained herein may be out of date. It is always wise to seek counsel from an experienced Fort Lauderdale Solicitation Lawyer like Kenneth Hassett.

If you have been charged as an Accessory After the Fact or a Principal in the First Degree to a criminal offense in Broward or Miami-Dade County, call Criminal Defense Attorney Kenneth P. Hassett.