Building a Virginia Beach Conspiracy Defense 

Building a Virginia Beach conspiracy defense involves information about the co-conspirator hearsay exception. Normally, out of court statements made by somebody other than the witness on the stand are not admissible. The idea between co-conspirator hearsay is when it can be established that there is a conspiracy between two parties, a co-conspirator can testify to the statements of another co-conspirator for things they said related to the conspiracy. One thing a person must be concerned about is whether there is somebody testifying against them. They need to be prepared to testify to discredit this other person. Consult with an adept Virginia Beach conspiracy lawyer for more information on defense methods.

Defenses in a Conspiracy Case

With a conspiracy, an attorney may argue a person was arrested before anything took place. They can argue that there was no conspiracy, it was idle chat and was never actualized into a plan. Another defense is that the person was not part of a conspiracy. The other people involved brought the person’s name up in an effort to improve their situation. The third defense is that there was no conspiracy. The person did not work with anybody to commit a crime and there was no agreement to do anything illegal. There are many ways to go about building a Virginia Beach conspiracy defense.

Deciding Not to Participate in Conspiracy

When a person is involved in a conspiracy, they can withdraw but they must make it clear to everybody that they are no longer involved. Later on, if the person is charged, they can say they had no part in the conspiracy. However, they are still responsible for anything the conspiracy committed up to the point the person withdrew. For example, the person commits two crimes in a conspiracy, and then drops out, and the group commits five more crimes, the person is responsible for the two crimes that occurred when they were part of the conspiracy if the case goes to trial.

Ignorance of Plan

When someone has a small role in a crime and does not know the entire plan, the court can take that into account. However, when a person is part of a conspiracy, they are liable for all crimes other members of the conspiracy committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. Even if the person does not know what everybody else was doing, they can still be found guilty of the crime. The person can argue at sentencing that they had a very narrow part in the crime. However, if the person is deemed to be part of the conspiracy, that is a mitigation and not an absolute defense.

Limiting Involvement

Building a Virginia Beach conspiracy defense also involves showing the person had a limited involvement with the situation. The defense lawyer can show through statements made by other conspirators or have them testify as to what an individual did. They may say the person was only there for a couple of meetings or only did a few things. The lawyer can also point to the evidence that shows the limited involvement of the individual in the conspiracy. The lawyer can make it appear to the judge or jury that while a person was part of the conspiracy, they had no idea of the scope of the conspiracy.

What Defense Attorneys Look For

A defense attorney reviews the government’s case to see if they can show the person had any knowledge and agreement with anyone else to commit a crime. The attorney examines statements, photographs, and witness testimonies. The attorney wants to know if the photographs show the person with the other people charged where they are committing acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. When somebody else testifies against the client, the defense attorney wants to know exactly what the person said and determines how to argue the admissibility of those statements. Contact a trusted conspiracy lawyer for more on building a Virginia Beach conspiracy defense.