CONSPIRACY ‑ VICARIOUS LIABILITY (N.J.S.A. 2C:2‑6b(4)) model jury charge
Count
of the indictment charges the defendant with
the crime of .
The State does not allege that the defendant committed the crime of personally, but rather that he/she is legally accountable for that
crime even though it was committed by another.
More specifically, the State alleges that the crime of was committed by ,
and that the defendant is legally accountable for the crime of committed by because the defendant and allegedly conspired together to commit that
crime. It is therefore necessary that I
instruct you as to both the crime of and the law of conspiracy.
(HERE REFER TO THE MODEL CHARGE FOR
THE PARTICULAR CRIME)
If
you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the State has proven all of
these essential elements and that committed the crime of , then you must go on to
determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant for that same crime. However, if you are not satisfied beyond a
reasonable doubt that committed the crime of , then your
inquiry ends here and you must return a verdict of Not Guilty as to the
defendant. Therefore, the following
instructions on conspiracy are only for your use if you find beyond a
reasonable doubt that committed the crime of .
Our
law provides that a person is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his/her own conduct or by the conduct of another person for which he/she) is legally accountable, or both.[1] A person is legally accountable for the
conduct of another person when he/she is engaged in a conspiracy with such
other person[2]
and the conduct is within the scope of the conspiracy.[3] Thus, you must decide whether the defendant
engaged in a conspiracy with to commit the crime of .
A
person is guilty of conspiracy with another person (or persons)[4] if with
the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime he/she:
(1) Agrees with such other person or persons
that they or one or more of them will engage in conduct which constitutes such
crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime; or
(2) Agrees to aid such other person or
persons in the planning or commission of such crime or of an attempt or
solicitation to commit such crime.
Thus, for the purposes of this case,
to find that the defendant engaged in a conspiracy with you must be satisfied beyond a reasonable
doubt of the following elements:
(1) That defendant agreed with (select appropriate language); and
(2) That when the defendant so agreed with the defendant's purpose, i.e., his/her conscious object, was to promote or to make it easier for to commit the crime of .
In
this case, after consideration of all of the evidence, if you find beyond a
reasonable doubt that committed the crime of and also that the defendant conspired with to commit that crime, then you must find the
defendant guilty of the crime of . On the other hand, if you have a reasonable
doubt that committed the crime of , that the
defendant conspired with to commit that crime, or both, then you must
find the defendant not guilty.
[3] In an appropriate case it may be
necessary to charge that a defendant is not legally accountable for conduct of
other persons after the defendant has explicitly abandoned the conspiracy. See N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2f (3).
[4] In an appropriate case it may be
necessary to charge as to the scope of a conspiracy involving additional
persons. See N.J.S.A.
2C:5-2b.