TITLE 11

Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Delaware Criminal Code

CHAPTER 5. Specific Offenses

Subchapter I. Inchoate Crimes

§ 501. Criminal solicitation in the third degree; class A misdemeanor.

A person is guilty of criminal solicitation in the third degree when, intending that another person engage in conduct constituting a misdemeanor, the person solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in conduct that would constitute the misdemeanor or an attempt to commit the misdemeanor or which would establish the other’s complicity in its commission or attempted commission.

Criminal solicitation in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  501;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  167 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 502. Criminal solicitation in the second degree; class F felony.

A person is guilty of criminal solicitation in the second degree when, intending that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony, the person solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in conduct which would constitute the felony or an attempt to commit the felony, or which would establish the other’s complicity in its commission or attempted commission.

Criminal solicitation in the second degree is a class F felony, unless the person is 18 years of age or older, and the other person had not yet reached his or her eighteenth birthday at the time of the crime, in which case it is a class D felony, or unless the person is more than 3 years older than the other person, and the other person had not yet reached his or her fifteenth birthday at the time of the crime, in which case it is a class D felony.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  502;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  167 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  171 Del. Laws, c. 424, §  1

§ 503. Criminal solicitation in the first degree; class E felony.

A person is guilty of criminal solicitation in the first degree when, intending that another person engage in conduct constituting a class A felony, the person solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in conduct which would constitute the felony or an attempt to commit the felony, or which would establish the other’s complicity in its commission or attempted commission.

Criminal solicitation in the first degree is a class E felony, unless the person is 18 years of age or older, and the other person had not yet reached his or her eighteenth birthday at the time of the crime, in which case it is a class C felony, or unless the person is more than 3 years older than the other person, and the other person had not yet reached his or her fifteenth birthday at the time of the crime, in which case it is a class C felony.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  503;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  167 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  171 Del. Laws, c. 424, §  2

§§ 504-510. [Reserved.]

§ 511. Conspiracy in the third degree; class A misdemeanor.

A person is guilty of conspiracy in the third degree when, intending to promote or facilitate commission of a misdemeanor, the person:

(1) Agrees with another person or persons that they or 1 or more of them will engage in conduct constituting the misdemeanor or an attempt or solicitation to commit the misdemeanor; or

(2) Agrees to aid another person or persons in the planning or commission of the misdemeanor or an attempt or solicitation to commit the misdemeanor, and the person or another person with whom the person conspired commits an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy.

Conspiracy in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  511;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  159 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  767 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 512. Conspiracy in the second degree; class G felony.

A person is guilty of conspiracy in the second degree when, intending to promote or facilitate the commission of a felony, the person:

(1) Agrees with another person or persons that they or 1 or more of them will engage in conduct constituting the felony or an attempt or solicitation to commit the felony; or

(2) Agrees to aid another person or persons in the planning or commission of the felony or an attempt or solicitation to commit the felony; and the person or another person with whom the person conspired commits an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy.

Conspiracy in the second degree is a class G felony.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  512;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  159 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  767 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 513. Conspiracy in the first degree; class E felony.

A person is guilty of conspiracy in the first degree when, intending to promote or facilitate the commission of a class A felony, the person:

(1) Agrees with another person or persons that they or 1 or more of them will engage in conduct constituting the felony or an attempt or solicitation to commit the felony; or

(2) Agrees to aid another person or persons in the planning or commission of the felony or an attempt or solicitation to commit the felony, and the person or another person with whom the person conspired commits an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy.

Conspiracy in the first degree is a class E felony.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  513;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  159 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  767 Del. Laws, c. 130, §  870 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§§ 514-520. [Reserved.]

§ 521. Conspiracy.

(a) If a person conspires to commit a number of crimes, the person is guilty of only 1 conspiracy, so long as the multiple crimes are the object of the same agreement of continuous conspiratorial relationship. The person may be convicted of the degree of conspiracy which includes the most serious offense which the person is found guilty of conspiring to commit.

(b) If a person guilty of conspiracy, as defined by §§ 511-513 of this title, knows that a person with whom the person conspires to commit a crime has conspired with another person or persons to commit the same crime, the first person is guilty of conspiring to commit the crime with the other person or persons, whether or not the first person knows their identity.

(c) No person may be convicted of conspiracy to commit an offense when an element of the offense is agreement with the person with whom the person is alleged to have conspired, or when the person with whom the person is alleged to have conspired is necessarily involved with the person in the commission of the offense.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  521;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 522. Joinder and venue in conspiracy prosecutions.

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, 2 or more persons charged with conspiracy to commit a crime may be prosecuted jointly if:

(1) They are charged with conspiring with one another; or

(2) The conspiracies alleged, whether they have the same or different parties, are so related that they constitute different aspects of a scheme of organized criminal conduct.

(b) In any joint prosecution under subsection (a) of this section:

(1) No defendant shall be charged with a conspiracy in any county other than one in which the defendant entered into the conspiracy or one in which an overt act pursuant to the conspiracy was done by the defendant or by a person with whom the defendant conspired; and

(2) Neither the criminal liability of any defendant nor the admissibility against a defendant of evidence of acts or declarations of another shall be enlarged by the joinder; and

(3) The court may order a severance or take a special verdict as to any defendant who so requests, if it deems such action necessary or appropriate to promote the fair determination of guilt or innocence, and the court may take any other proper measures to protect the fairness of the trial.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  522;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 523. Criminal solicitation and conspiracy unaffected by matters relating to the complicity of other persons.

(a) It is no defense to a prosecution for criminal solicitation that the person solicited could not be guilty of the crime solicited because of irresponsibility or other legal incapacity or exemption, or because of unawareness of the criminal nature of the conduct solicited or of the defendant’s criminal purpose or because of other factors precluding the mental state required for the commission of the crime in question.

(b) It is no defense to a prosecution for criminal conspiracy that, because of irresponsibility or other legal incapacity or exemption, or because of unawareness of the criminal nature of the agreement or the conduct contemplated or of the defendant’s criminal purpose or because of other factors precluding the mental state required for commission of the conspiracy or the crime contemplated, 1 or more of the defendant’s coconspirators could not be guilty of the conspiracy or the crime contemplated.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  523;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  1

§§ 524-530. [Reserved.]

§ 531. Attempt to commit a crime.

A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime if the person:

(1) Intentionally engages in conduct which would constitute the crime if the attendant circumstances were as the person believes them to be; or

(2) Intentionally does or omits to do anything which, under the circumstances as the person believes them to be, is a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the commission of the crime by the person.

Attempt to commit a crime is an offense of the same grade and degree as the most serious offense which the accused is found guilty of attempting.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  531;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 532. “Substantial step” defined.

A “substantial step” under § 531 of this title is an act or omission which leaves no reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s intention to commit the crime which the defendant is charged with attempting.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  532;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 533. Conduct intended to aid another to commit a crime.

A person who engages in conduct intended to aid another person to commit a crime is guilty of an attempt to commit the crime, although the crime is not committed or attempted by the other person, provided that the conduct would establish the person’s complicity under § 271 of this title if the crime were committed by the other person.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  533;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§§ 534-540. [Reserved.]

§ 541. Criminal solicitation, conspiracy, attempt to commit a crime; defense of renunciation.

(a) In any prosecution for criminal solicitation or conspiracy in which the crime solicited or the crime contemplated by the conspiracy was not in fact committed, it is an affirmative defense that, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of the criminal purpose, the accused prevented the commission of the crime.

(b) In any prosecution for an attempt to commit a crime it is an affirmative defense that, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of the criminal purpose, the accused avoided the commission of the crime attempted by abandoning the criminal effort and, if mere abandonment was insufficient to accomplish avoidance, by taking further and affirmative steps which prevented the commission of the crime attempted.

(c) A renunciation is not “voluntary and complete” within the meaning of this section if it is motivated in whole or in part by:

(1) A belief that circumstances exist which increase the probability of detection or apprehension of the accused or another participant in the criminal enterprise, or which render more difficult the accomplishment of the criminal purpose; or

(2) A decision to postpone the criminal conduct until another time or to transfer the criminal effort to another victim or another but similar objective.

1 Del. C. 1953, §  541;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 542. Exemption of law-enforcement officers.

Nothing in this subchapter shall apply to any law-enforcement officer or the officer’s agent while acting in the lawful performance of duty.

11 Del. C. 1953, §  542;  58 Del. Laws, c. 497, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1