Examples of Criminal Solicitation Under California Penal Code 653f

Crimes under Penal Code 653f are categorized as either felonies or misdemeanors and are punishable by county jail, prison, or fines, depending on the nature of the specific crime. However, there are defenses available for those facing charges of criminal solicitation. Read on to find out about these defenses, as well as examples of what may count as a crime under Penal Code 653f.

‍Examples

Solicitation of crime under Penal Code 653 PC can include a number of different crimes. Here are some examples of such acts.

You want to rob a bank, but you don’t think you can do it alone. So, you contact some of your friends and invite them to come with you, guaranteeing to split the money earned. 

• You find out your significant other has been having an affair with your mother behind your back, however, you decide divorcing them isn’t enough. So, you call up your friend who you’ve been secretly having an affair with and tell them that as long as they kill your current spouse, then you two can get married. Your ex agrees. but then decides against killing your spouse. You are still guilty of criminal solicitation in this scenario.
• You are suspected of having assaulted your coworker, so you pay another coworker off to provide a false testimony saying that you were with them when the crime was committed and therefore could not have been guilty.

Note that, regardless of whether or not the individual being solicited to commit a crime accepts, you may be charged under Penal Code 653 PC as long as you had the intention to commit the crime.

Defenses

There are defense strategies available in the event that one is tried for criminal solicitation. Below are some of the typical defenses used in such cases.

1. You are the victim of entrapment.
2. You had no intentions to actually commit the crime in question (ex: you jokingly discussed asking your friend to shoot your aunt so that you don’t have to go to her birthday party, but had no intentions of doing so).
3. No one got the solicitation (ex: you sent a text soliciting robbery, but the text never went through to the other person).

Conclusion

In this article, we went over the basic defense strategies for charges of criminal solicitation under California Penal Code 653f. If you still have questions or would like a consultation with us to discuss this statute further, please consider contacting us so that we may help you understand how you may be defended. 

Regardless of the classification of the offense, it is important that you seek the assistance of competent legal counsel to help you best understand your legal defense while identifying an outcome that best minimizes your risk. We here at the H Law group patiently await your call.