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RCW 9A.28.040

Criminal conspiracy.

Known as the Washington Criminal Code

The act spans §§ 9A.04.010 to 9A.98.020 (401 sections).

Applied in 79 court decisions — leading case 127 Wash. 2d 95 - State v. Gocken (1995)

Most recently applied in State v. Morgan (January 2025)

1997 c 17 s 1; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 s 9A.28.040.

How often courts cite this section

19821990200020102020202550
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person is guilty of criminal conspiracy when, with intent that conduct constituting a crime be performed, he or she agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct, and any one of them takes a substantial step in pursuance of such agreement.

(2) It shall not be a defense to criminal conspiracy that the person or persons with whom the accused is alleged to have conspired:

(a) Has not been prosecuted or convicted; or

(b) Has been convicted of a different offense; or

(c) Is not amenable to justice; or

(d) Has been acquitted; or

(e) Lacked the capacity to commit an offense; or

(f) Is a law enforcement officer or other government agent who did not intend that a crime be committed.

(3) Criminal conspiracy is a:

(a) Class A felony when an object of the conspiratorial agreement is murder in the first degree;

(b) Class B felony when an object of the conspiratorial agreement is a class A felony other than murder in the first degree;

(c) Class C felony when an object of the conspiratorial agreement is a class B felony;

(d) Gross misdemeanor when an object of the conspiratorial agreement is a class C felony;

(e) Misdemeanor when an object of the conspiratorial agreement is a gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.