{"id":14953,"date":"2018-02-28T06:33:58","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T06:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=14953"},"modified":"2018-02-28T06:56:42","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T06:56:42","slug":"whartons-rule-an-agreement-by-two-or-more-persons-to-commit-a-particular-crime-cannot-be-prosecuted-as-a-conspiracy-if-the-crime-was-committed-mutually-and-not-involving-individuals-outside-their","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=14953","title":{"rendered":"Wharton’s rule – an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime cannot be prosecuted as a conspiracy if it was committed mutually, and not involving anyone other than themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This page is continued from Criminal Law Self-Help<\/a> >>>> Crimes and Corresponding Laws<\/a> >>>> Crimes Necessarily Committed by Two or More Persons Working Together<\/a> >>>> Conspiracy<\/a>:<\/span>
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Wharton\u2019s rule<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span>
\n(1940)<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Criminal law.<\/em> The doctrine that an agreement by two or more persons to <\/strong><\/span>commit a particular crime cannot be prosecuted as a conspiracy<\/a> if the crime could not be committed except by the actual number of participants involved.\u00a0 *\u00a0 Classic <\/span><\/strong>examples include dueling and prostitution, crimes that cannot be committed alone.\u00a0 But if additional people participate, as duelists\u2019 seconds or a prostitute\u2019s pimp, for example, all the actors might be cha<\/strong>rged with conspiracy.\u00a0 The doctrine takes its name from the influential criminal law author Francis Wharton (1820-1889).<\/strong> \u2014 aka <\/span>Wharton rule<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; concert-of action rule. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Same as concert of action rule<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

concert of action rule<\/span>:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The rule that if one of the elements of a crime is such that is can only be committed by two persons acting together (EXAMPLES: adultery; illicit cohabitation), such mutual action cannot also be a conspiracy<\/a>.\u00a0 This principle is also referred to as the Wharton Rule.\u00a0<\/strong> [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Excerpt from Iannelli v. U.S<\/em>., 420 US. 770, 785-86, 95 S.Ct. 1284, 1293-94 (1975)<\/span>:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWharton\u2019s Rule applies only to offenses that require concerted criminal activity, a plurality of criminal agents. In such cases, a closer relationship exists between the conspiracy<\/a> and the substantive offense<\/a> because both<\/em> require collective criminal activity.\u00a0 The substantive offense<\/a> therefore presents some of the same threats that the law of conspiracy<\/a> normally is thought to guard against, and it cannot automatically be assumed that the Legislature intended the conspiracy<\/a> and the substantive offense<\/a> to remain as discrete crimes upon consummation of the latter.\u00a0 Thus, absent legislative intent to the contrary, the Rule supports a presumption that the two merge when the substantive offense<\/a> is proved. . . .\u00a0 More important, as the Rule is essentially an aid to the determination of legislative intent, it must defer to a discernible legislative judgment.<\/span>\u201d <\/strong>[1]
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References:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disclaimer:<\/span><\/span><\/strong> All material throughout this website is compiled in accordance with Fair Use<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]: Black\u2019s Law Dictionary\u00a0<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/strong>Deluxe Tenth Edition<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Henry Campbell Black & Editor in Chief Bryan A. Garner. ISBN: 978-0-314-62130-6<\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[2<\/b><\/span><\/strong>]:\u00a0\u00a0Ballantine\u2019s Law Dictionary <\/a><\/b><\/span><\/strong>Legal Assistant Edition<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/em>
\nby Jack Ballantine\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/strong>(James Arthur 1871-1949).\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/em>Doctored<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>by\u00a0Jack G. Handler,\u00a0J.D.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a9 1994 Delmar by Thomson Learning.\u00a0 ISBN 0-8273-4874-6.<\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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