Actus Reus and Mens Rea

As the statutes above make clear, the essence of a conspiracy is an agreement to commit criminal acts. That much is relatively clear. Exactly what evidence will suffice to demonstrate an agreement, however, remains controversial. The first case examines when a conspiracy can be inferred from the fact that two or more partiers are acting in unison. In the second case, it is clear that there is an agreement between two parties and that one of them is engaged in criminal conduct. The question for the court is whether the defendant has a sufficiently culpable mental state to be deemed to have agreed to become a part of the criminal enterprise.