State v. Foster
Supreme Court of
202
Dressler, pp. 854-858
Facts: The defendant recruited someone to go after a guy
that he thought raped his girlfriend.
They found someone who they thought matched the description, and they
started to beat him up. The defendant
wanted to go get his girlfriend to have her check if it was the right guy, but
he didn’t want the supposed rapist to get away, so he gave his friend a
knife. While the defendant was gone, the
supposed rapist charged at the defendant’s friend, who stabbed the supposed
rapist and killed him. The defendant was
convicted of kidnapping, assault, and accessory to criminally negligent
homicide. The defendant appealed on the
basis that being an accessory to criminally negligent homicide is legally impossible
because you can’t intend for something to happen unintentionally (negligently).
Issue: Must the defendant act with “intent” in order to be
convicted of accessory to criminally negligent homicide under the rule of “dual
intent”?
Rule: Accessorial liability for criminally negligent
homicide requires the same level of culpability as the underlying offense, that
is, negligence.
Analysis: Even though you can’t attempt or conspire
to commit an offense that doesn’t require intent, you can be an accessory
to such an offense. The court says that
the statute that establishes accessorial liability in
Conclusion: The conviction is upheld.
Notes and Questions
1.
The
statutes in
2.
A.
B.