Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Yesterday's blog focused on the inchoate offense of attempt, which is very similar in a lot of ways to the focus of today's blog: solicitation. Solicitation is defined in the Tennessee Code as using basically any form of communication (written, oral, sign language, Morse code, etc.) to command, hire, or otherwise enlist someone to commit a criminal offense. Like assault, the offense of solicitation is complete as soon as the act of solicitation is completed; it makes no difference that the solicited party actually does or does not follow through with the completion of the crime except that completion of the offense may lead to more serious charges for all responsible parties under the doctrine of merger. Also like assault, it is no defense to solicitation that the offense could not be completed because the soliciting party was mistaken about the facts and could never have completed the intended offense. It is also no defense that the person who is solicited to commit the offense lacks the capacity or ability to carry out the offense as long as the soliciting party believes that the person is so capable.

The good news for Tennesseans charged with solicitation is that a few very effective defenses to the charge do exist. They are much the same as those described in yesterday's blog as defenses to an attempt charge. The defendant's best hope at beating a solicitation charge is to prove that he lacks the requisite mental state for the intended offense as required by the statute or that he completely abandoned the commission of the offense and successfully prevented it from occurring. Defendants who wish to pursue such defense strategies would be wise to consult an experienced criminal defense attorney in order to put forth the best possible legal defense.