Misdemeanor Norfolk Virginia Petit Larceny Grand Conspiracy Felony Criminal 18.2-12

Commonwealth of Virginia v. John D. Howlett, Jr.

CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

61 Va. Cir. 509

May 8, 2003, Decided

Whether the crime of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor existed in Virginia?

The court held that "there is no statute in Virginia touching on conspiracies to commit misdemeanors, nor any reported Virginia case on the subject of Misdemeanor. However, the Supreme Court of Virginia has defined "conspiracy" as "an agreement between two or more persons by some concerted action to commit an offense." In the absence of a statute or constitutional provision, the common law of England is in "full force" within Virginia and is the "rule of decision." Under the common law of England a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is an offense; in fact, the common law in many instances punished a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is an act that was unlawful but not criminal. This broad view of criminal conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor has some support in Virginia, and it has been adopted by most of the states of the Union. Our Supreme Court has held that a conspiracy to injure a person in his trade or occupation is indictable. If a conspiracy to commit a wrongful, but not criminal, act is a crime, a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is a crime.

A conspiracy to commit a felony was a misdemeanor at common law.  No statute has expressly abrogated the common law rule that a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is an offense.  The conspiracy to commit petit larceny would be a lesser included offense of conspiracy to commit grand larceny. The punishment for a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor would be prescribed by Va. Code § 18.2-12.

Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group.  They represent the firm's unofficial views of the Justices' opinions.  The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.

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