The charges on Warfield will depend on the nature in which the events happened. First, Warfield went for a ride with men who wanted to commit a crime. The moment he decided to enter the car with the intention of committing a crime indicates that he will be charged with a felony. Therefore, upon a verdict, he will be penalized by incarceration of not less than one year or according to the decision of the trial judge.
Secondly, the judge will consider whether Warfield gave input to the robbery details. If he went for a ride knowing their intention yet he did not have any say about it; he will be charged with conspiracy to commit a robbery.
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Thirdly, if Warfield entered the victim’s house, he will be charged with breaking in by force. He will be asked whether he took part in confining the woman and her children. If he did not participate but failed to stop the men from restricting the woman, he will be charged as a principal offender. This will also lead to charges of attempted robbery by intimidation. If in any case, Warfield did not know about the robbery, he could have fled the moment he saw them tying up the woman. Since he did not escape before the police showed up yet he was not tied up, then, he will be charged as an accessory. The accessory is treated as a transgression which in some jurisdiction is treated as a felony.
Crimes of the attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation consist of actions that fall short of the final act of commission. Hence, they are known as inchoate crimes. A crime attempt is one that failed to complete due to reasons such as the defendant tried everything but eventually failed, or he/she was prevented from completing the crime. To constitute an attempt, the offender must take the substantial step towards committing the crime. In this case, Warfield was involved in tying up and confining the women to force her to take them to her workstation so that they can steal. If the police did not show up, they could have succeeded in stealing. Therefore, the punishment he should face is half the maximum allowed for robbery.
Conspiracy is also an incomplete crime which is an explicit agreement between two or more people to commit an offense. Courts are struggling to distinguish between measly ideas from agreements to commit a crime. A conspiracy occurs even if only one member agrees to commit a crime. This is because the essence of conspiracy involves an agreement to commit a crime. For instance, Warfield drove with the other men. He followed them into the victim’s house and witnessed the tying her up. The moment they saw police and decided to run away shows that he was also involved hence he will be prosecuted for conspiracy to rob. The punishment for conspiracy is similar to that of the robbery itself.
Solicitation involves demanding, contracting, forcing, encouraging, or engaging another person in committing an offense. To be charged with soliciting, the prosecutor must prove to the judge that the offender intended the other person to do what the defendant recommended. In this case, we have not been told whether Warfield was asked to do anything or not. We also don’t know whether he was told to go for a ride with them or was his decision. Therefore, Warfield cannot be charged with the crime of solicitation.
References
Court of Appeals of Texas, San Antonio., WARFIELD v. STATE | 974 S.W.2d 269 (1998) | w2d26911206 LEAGLE (1998), https://www.leagle.com/decision/19981243974sw2d26911206 (last visited Nov 21, 2017).
Incomplete Crimes: Conspiracy, Attempt & Solicitation, criminal law, https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/criminal-law-basics/incomplete-crimes-conspiracy-attempt-solicitation.html (last visited Nov 22, 2017).
