The time after an arrest is confusing, to say the least, and one of the many reasons is that you hear so many legal terms for the first time, plus others that you have heard before but never knew what they meant. If your criminal defense lawyer tells you that the prosecution wants to charge you with inchoate offenses, you are probably baffled, but when your lawyer says that inchoate offenses are attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation, it doesn’t help that much. You have heard those words before, but what exactly is the state saying that you did wrong, and what can you say to convincingly deny it? You have seen “no solicitation” signs in malls, and conspiracies are what your elderly uncles rant about at family gatherings, but none of this has much to do with your legal case. Inchoate offenses usually mean being an accomplice to a crime.
A Texas criminal defense attorney can help you if prosecutors are accusing you of being responsible for a crime that someone else committed.
You Can Still Be Convicted as an Accomplice, Even If You Were Not Present at the Scene of the Crime
If you discussed plans to commit a crime with the person who went on to commit the crime, you can be charged with accessory before the fact, which is a synonym for conspiracy or being an accomplice. For example, if an acquaintance of yours defrauded your elderly neighbor out of money after pretending to fall in love with her, you can be charged as an accomplice even if you were not present when your acquaintance went with your neighbor to the bank to withdraw money or when she took him shopping for an expensive car. It is enough that you knew that he was planning to use her for money and that you introduced them to each other and invited them to social outings together before the financial abuse began.
You might be able to defend yourself against accessory before the fact charges if you can argue that you acted without criminal intent and that nothing you said or did indicates knowledge of the other people’s criminal intent. For example, you might convincingly argue that you introduced your acquaintance and your neighbor to each other because you knew that they were both lonely and when you started to suspect that he was financially abusing her, you were the first to intervene. You might be able to show this through text messages you exchanged with both of them at various points in their relationship. Even if the content of your text message exchanges is inconclusive, you may still be able to argue that the evidence is not sufficient to connect you to the crime.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC About Criminal Defense Cases
A Dallas criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are being accused of an inchoate offense, such as being an accomplice to a financial crime. Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC, in Dallas, Texas, to discuss your case.