Conspiracy accusations are drastically different than most criminal charges as the person accused need not actually commit any actual crimes. Instead, conspiracy charges are brought up when a person helped to plan or commit a felony with other people.

Under California law, a conspiracy occurs when two or more people plan and work together to commit a felony and take some kind of action toward the completion of the crime. There is no requirement for the crime itself to have actually been completed in order for the people involved to be charged.

For example, if a group of friends develops a plan to kidnap someone and they start to acquire weapons and other items vital to their plot, they have conspired to commit a kidnapping even if the crime never occurred. Alternatively, if the kidnapping did happen, but one person never took any part in the actual abduction, he or she could still be charged with conspiracy for helping to create the plan. You can also be charged with conspiracy if you plan to falsely accuse or frame someone for a crime.

Under California law, anyone convicted of conspiracy is subject to the same penalties as the crime they conspired to perform. If the crime is completed, you can be charged with both conspiracy and the actual crime.  The rules of evidence are also looser in conspiracy cases, allowing the prosecutor to use evidence against you that he or she might not be able to have admitted in a case involving a regular criminal charge.

If you have been charged with this serious crime, please call a skilled Vista conspiracy attorney like Peter M. Liss at (760) 643-4050 as soon as possible to discuss your case.

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