Vicarious liability and such

[L Verge]

I have always been under the same impression as you. Anyone entering into a conspiracy is liable for what any member of that conspiracy might do.

I have had this discussion with a lot of lawyers and one year even organized a one-day training session for judges in our county based on the Lincoln assassination conspiracy. No one argued vicarious liability was wrong, and all put a modern name to it -- felony murder. Most used the example of a gang who goes to rob a bank and someone is killed. All will be charged with felony murder, but all may not receive the same sentence.

I also had a lawyer use the example of vicarious liability in explaining Charles Manson's life imprisonment even though he was not present at the crime scene.

I suspect that Kauffman is emphasizing what the defense hoped would happen - that the kidnap plot and the assassination would be viewed as two separate crimes instead of one big conspiracy. IMO, anyone contemplating kidnapping has to have an inkling that something more deadly could occur. In the end, I think we know which way the commission interpreted vicarious liability.