§ 13A-4-3 — Criminal Conspiracy Generally

(a) A person is guilty of criminal conspiracy if, with the intent that conduct constituting an offense be performed, he or she agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of the conduct, and any one or more of the persons does an overt act to effect an objective of the agreement.
(b) If a person knows or should know that one with whom he
or she
agrees has in turn agreed or will agree with another to effect the same criminal objective, he
or she
shall be deemed to have agreed with
the
other person, whether or not he
or she
knows the other’s identity.
(c) A person is not liable under this section if, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of his criminal purpose, he
or she
gave a timely and adequate warning to law enforcement authorities or made a substantial effort to prevent the enforcement of the criminal conduct contemplated by the conspiracy. Renunciation by one conspirator, however, does not affect the liability of another conspirator who does not join in the abandonment of the conspiratorial objective. The burden of injecting the issue of renunciation is on the defendant, but this does not shift the burden of proof.
(d)
None of the following is a
defense to a prosecution for criminal conspiracy
:
(1) The person, or persons, with whom defendant is alleged to have conspired has been acquitted, has not been prosecuted or convicted, has been convicted of a different offense
,
or is immune from prosecution
.
(2) The person, or persons, with whom defendant conspired could not be guilty of the conspiracy or the object crime because of lack of mental responsibility or culpability, or other legal incapacity or defense
.
(3) The defendant belongs to a class of persons who by definition are legally incapable in an individual capacity of committing the offense that is the object of the conspiracy.
(e) A conspirator is not liable under this section if, had the criminal conduct contemplated by the conspiracy actually been performed, he
or she
would be immune from liability under the law defining the offense or as an accomplice under Section 13A-2-24.
(f) Liability as accomplice. Accomplice liability for offenses committed in furtherance of a conspiracy is to be determined as provided in Section 13A-2-23.
(g) Criminal conspiracy is a:
(1) Class A felony if an object of the conspiracy is murder.
(2) Class B felony if an object of the conspiracy is a Class A felony.
(3) Class C felony if an object of the conspiracy is a Class B felony.
(4) Class D felony if an object of the conspiracy is a Class C felony.
(5)
Class A misdemeanor if an object of the conspiracy is a Class
D
felony.
(6)
Class B misdemeanor if an object of the conspiracy is a Class A misdemeanor.
(7)
Class C misdemeanor if an object of the conspiracy is a Class B misdemeanor.
(8)
Violation if an object of the conspiracy is a Class C misdemeanor.

Legislative History

(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §1015; Act 2023-461, §1.)