Criminal Solicitation - Utah Criminal Attorney
Under the Utah criminal code, a person may face felony prosecution for
criminal solicitation for requesting that another person commit a
crime. Even if the other person does not agree to commit the crime and
takes no action in furtherance of the crime, the person making the
request may still be criminally charged and convicted.
Penalties for criminal
solicitation can be severe. If you are facing
prosecution for criminal solicitation or other crimes, having the
assistance of an
experienced
criminal defense attorney can be the best
way to ensure a positive result in your case. Based in Salt Lake City,
defense lawyer Stephen Howard
offers legal services to clients
throughout Utah.
Contact
us for a confidential consultation.
Defending Charges of Criminal Solicitation in Utah
What are the elements of criminal solicitation?
Criminal solicitation is considered an "inchoate" crime under Utah law
-
meaning that it is a partially completed crime. Common examples of an
inchoate or incomplete crime also include an "
attempt"
to commit a crime and a "
conspiracy"
to commit a crime. Where the underlying crime is never
actually committed or completed, no harm may be caused. Nevertheless,
the legislature has prohibited and criminalized even these preliminary
steps toward the commission of a crime.

Under
Utah Code
76-4-204, a defendant can be charged with criminal solicitation if the
defendant “solicits, requests, commands, offers to hire, or importunes”
another person to engage in felony criminal conduct. A prosecutor does
not have to prove that the defendant knew that the conduct requested
would constitute a
felony
crime. Instead, the prosecutor need only
establish that the conduct, under the circumstances as the defendant
believed them to be, would constitute a felony offense.
A request made as a joke is not sufficient to support a charge of
criminal solicitation. The prosecutor must present proof that the
defendant had the intent that the felony actually be committed. To
support this required proof, the evidence must show that the
circumstances under which the solicitation was made were “strongly
corroborative of the actor’s intent that the offense be committed.”
Whether the requested crime is actually committed or not can be
irrelevant to a prosecution for criminal solicitation. It is no defense
to a charge of criminal solicitation that the other person did not
actually agree to commit the requested crime, did not commit any over
act in furtherance of the requested crime, or that any acts committed
by the other person did not constitute a substantial step toward the
commission of the requested crime.
The other person does not have to be prosecuted in order to file a
charge of criminal solicitation against the person making the request.
Even if the other person is charged but acquitted (found not guilty) of
committing the requested crime, the person making the request can still
be independently prosecuted for criminal solicitation.
What are the penalties for criminal solicitation in Utah?
A conviction for criminal solicitation is generally punishable at one
degree less than the penalty for the requested crime. For example, if a
person requests that another person commit a first-degree felony, the
criminal solicitation charge can be punished as a second-degree felony. A
request to commit a third-degree felony can be punished as a class A
misdemeanor.

Exceptions to this general rule are set forth in Utah Code 76-4-204.
Under this section of the Utah criminal code, criminal solicitation of
certain first-degree felony offenses are still punishable at the
first-degree felony level with the potential for life in prison as a
maximum sentence, but with a lower minimum term ranging from three
years to fifteen years in prison.
If the requested crime is actually committed, the defendant may instead
by prosecuted as a “party” to the offense under Utah Code 76-2-202. A
defendant convicted as a party to the offense is guilty of the same
level offense as if the defendant had personally committed the crime.
Can criminal solicitation include a misdemeanor
offense?
Criminal solicitation under Utah Code 76-4-204
covers only solicitation to commit a felony offense. A request to
commit a misdemeanor offense will not support a criminal solicitation
charge.
However, if the misdemeanor crime is actually committed as a result of
the request, the person who made the request can be prosecuted as a
“party” to the offense. The penalties for a person who is prosecuted as
a “party” can be just as harsh as the penalties imposed against the
person who actually committed the offense.
Is criminal solicitation the same as sex solicitation?
Criminal
solicitation is a criminal offense entirely separate from the offense
of sex solicitation. Utah Code 76-10-1313 establishes the crime of
“sexual solicitation.” The level of offense for a charge of sexual
solicitation can range from a class B misdemeanor to a third-degree
felony, depending on the age of the person solicited and depending on
whether the defendant has been previously convicted of a similar
offense.
Finding a Utah Criminal Defense Attorney in Salt Lake City
If you have been charged with criminal solicitation or other criminal
offenses in Utah, the assistance of an experienced
criminal attorney
can be vital to achieving the best outcome for your case. The criminal
justice system is complex, and the consequences of conviction can be
severe.
Based in Salt Lake City, criminal attorney Stephen Howard provides
legal services to clients throughout Utah. His
track record includes
not guilty verdicts and dismissals for some of the most serious charges
on the books in Utah.
Contact us today to
arrange for a confidential consultation.
RELATED QUESTIONS:
What
are the penalties for a conspiracy to commit crime under Utah law?
Can
I be convicted of a crime for something that someone else did?
Can
a prosecutor charge me with drug possession if someone else took the
blame?