Solicitation

Solicitation is a crime characterized by counseling, advising, urging, inciting, and persuading another person to commit a crime with the specific intent that the solicited person actually carry out the crime.  The crime of solicitation is “over with the asking” which means that committing the solicitation is the crime, irrespective of its consequences.  Solicitation is a controversial criminal charge because the solicited person does not actually have to commit the crime nor do they have to be willing and able to commit the crime.  An example of the latter would be if the defendant was soliciting an undercover cop (who is not willing to carry out the crime in question).

Solicitation is a crime that typically only applies to serious felony crimes.  Many crimes of solicitation have their own statutes separate from the actual crime.  For example, solicitation of murder has its own legal statute separate from that of murder.  The federal government states that solicitation of a felony crime is punishable by half of the punishment given for committing the actual crime itself.  Theoretically speaking, if bribery carries a 20 year prison sentence, solicitation of bribery may be punishable by ten years of incarceration.  The law also states that a defendant cannot be charged for solicitation of a crime and the crime itself. 

The federal code states that a defendant’s complete and voluntary renunciation of the solicitation may be a viable defense against the prosecution.  If the defendant in a solicitation case chooses this defense, they must prove by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant made a full renunciation of their solicitation, so long as it was not motivated (in whole or part) by a decision to postpone the crime or change its specifics (such as intended objective or victim). 

Charges for solicitation are different than other criminal charges because the prosecution does not have to prove that the defendant possessed the right state of mind to carry out the crime.  In most criminal cases, the prosecution must prove that the defendant a) committed the crime in question, and b) had the state of mind required for its commission.  With the crime of solicitation, the prosecution must only prove that the defendant had the right state of mind to solicit another individual to commit a crime.   

Individual state’s laws regarding solicitation may be slightly different than the federal laws.  The laws of solicitation can be complex and difficult to easily understand without professional legal knowledge of these cases.  If you wish to learn more about the crime of solicitation in your state or specific case you may wish to contact a qualified attorney in your area who can answer your questions in greater detail.  To learn more about the crime of solicitation, please contact us to speak with a qualified and experienced criminal defense attorney in your area. 

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