I am in WV. Can you explain to me the difference in a burglary charge & conspiracy to commit burglary? Our prosecuting attorney sent charges of burglary to the grand jury for indictment... they DID NOT indict, but now he is sending charges of Conspiracy to commit burglary on the same people. Is this a greater or lesser charge and why would he do that?

Hello D:

He does that because he WANTS a conviction. Conspiracy is probably no more serious than the underlying charge.

excon

Conspiracy is the planning to, but not actually committing the act.

If for example Burglary requires that something is taken from the house, or they have to actually enter the house. But the police come or perhaps they are just bad at being a criminal and they get caught while in the house, they never actually stole anything since they did not get out of the house.

I had several similar cases get lost because I caught them in the house and did not let them come out. All we ended up with was trespass on one of them and other reduced charges on the rest.

Or perhaps they sat together and planned the crime but got caught before they did it, just planning to do the crime is conspiracy in most states.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Conspiracy is the planning to, but not actually committing the act..

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Hello DK:

I disagree with the Padre in ONE regard... Simply planning a crime is NOT conspiring to commit the crime. One must commit an OVERT act in the furtherance of the conspiracy to have it be a crime. For example, sitting in your living room BSing with your buddy about robbing the bank on the corner, is NOT conspiracy. DRIVING by to case the joint, however IS an OVERT act in furtherance of the conspiracy.

excon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

If for example Burglary requires that something is taken from the house, or they have to actually enter the house. But the police come or perhaps they are just bad at being a criminal and they get caught while in the house, they never actually stole anything since they did not get out of the house.

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This is false information. Burglary by definition is entering a home/dwelling/building INTENDING to commit a felony. Burglary charges really have nothing to do with theft. Yes, MOST burglaries ARE thefts, however a theft need not occur for a burglary to be committed.

I am not a lawyer, however I do know the law rather well.

Burglary is defined as the intentional, unauthorized entry into a building with the intent to commit a felony crime which could be arson or any other type of felony offense.

In WV, same penalties apply to those who have been charged as an "accessory to burglary".

Please understand in the US there are 50 different meanings of the crime, there is no one meaning. So it depends on which state