Also known as: schemes · arrangement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A connected or orderly arrangement of related elements or concepts.
An artful plot or plan, usually to deceive others or to carry out unlawful conduct.
A connected or orderly arrangement of related elements or concepts.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An artful plot or plan, usually to deceive others or to carry out unlawful conduct.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Sophia Singh and Samuel Soto ran separate crews that handled different stages of a larger narcotics operation. Prosecutors charged the two groups jointly because the conspiracies were so interrelated that they formed different aspects of one scheme of organized criminal conduct. The joint prosecution allowed evidence from both crews to be presented together.
Sierra Solutions sold equipment to buyers who could not pay immediately. Spectrum Financial advanced funds to Sierra Solutions against the buyers' purchase orders and later collected payment directly from the buyers. Because Spectrum Financial intervened in the ordinary course to finance the sales, it qualified as a financing agency under the UCC definition.
Solstice Ventures created a trust that gave the donee power to appoint assets among several beneficiaries. One portion of the appointment failed for violating the rule against perpetuities, but the remainder would have been effective if standing alone. The court gave effect to the valid portion because doing so best approximated the donee's overall scheme of disposition.
Multiple conspiracies may be prosecuted jointly when they are so related that they constitute different aspects of a scheme of organized criminal conduct. The connection is assessed by examining whether the alleged agreements share common participants, objectives, or methods that link them into one overall plan.
When part of an appointment is ineffective but another part would be effective if standing alone, the effective part is given effect unless the donee's scheme of disposition is better approximated by treating the otherwise effective part as ineffective as well.
Scott Summers approached Stephen Shaw with a detailed plan to launder drug proceeds through a shell company. Shaw agreed on the surface but secretly recorded the conversations for law enforcement without intending to participate. Because Shaw never genuinely shared the criminal objective, Summers could not be convicted of conspiracy even though the two discussed the scheme at length.
Steven Silva, a family-law attorney, offered to represent Samantha Stone in her divorce for a fee equal to twenty percent of any property settlement she received. The agreement violated professional conduct rules because it created a prohibited contingent-fee scheme in a domestic-relations matter. Stone later sought to void the fee contract on that ground.
A state enacted a statute requiring sterilization of repeat sex offenders as a condition of parole. The law created a compulsory sterilization scheme that the Supreme Court struck down because it burdened the fundamental right to procreate without satisfying equal-protection or due-process requirements. Affected individuals successfully challenged the statute as unconstitutional.
A lawyer may not enter into an arrangement for, charge, or collect a contingent fee for representing a defendant in a criminal case. Such a fee arrangement is prohibited regardless of the client's consent or the outcome of the proceeding.
The government must prove that at least two participants genuinely shared a criminal objective and each actually intended to carry out the unlawful agreement. If one party only pretends to agree, the other cannot be convicted of conspiracy.
…That institution—even as confined to opposite-sex relations—has evolved over time. For example, marriage was once viewed as an arrangement by the couple’s parents based on political, religious, and financial concerns; but by the time of the Nation’s founding it was understood to be a voluntary contract between a man and a…