In law, a conspiracy theory is a theory of a case that presents a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

to be considered by a

trier of fact In law, a trier of fact or finder of fact is a person or group who determines disputed issues of fact in a legal proceeding (usually a trial) and how relevant they are to deciding its outcome. To determine a fact is to decide, from the evide ...

. A basic tenet of "traditional 'conspiracy theory'" is that each co-conspirator is liable for acts of co-conspirators "during the existence of and in furtherance of the conspiracy". Procedures and proof requirements for conspiracy theory litigation as well as the definition of 'conspiracy' vary by

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

(British, U.S., …) and body of law (criminal, civil, …). In civil litigation, it can offer advantages relative to aiding-and-abetting or joint tortfeasor case theories.

Conspiracy, theory, and conspiracy theory litigation

In popular usage, the term ‘

’ means a

secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

agreement of two or more persons usually to commit a bad act. In a broad legal sense, it is an agreement to commit an unlawful act; in British and some American courts, lawful acts finish in an unlawful manner (in British parlance, a ‘conspiracy to injure’; in American, a ‘true conspiracy’) are also included. Some states require an overt act. (Common law rule does not.) Whereas in a

criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...

, the substantive offense is a

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, in civil law, the

wrong A wrong or wrength (from Old English – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral. Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state or jurisdiction. They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes (or ''criminal of ...

is most likely a recognized intentional

tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...

. A

theory A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

of a

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

(aka ‘case theory’) is “a detailed, coherent, accurate story of what occurred" involving both legal theory (i.e., claims/causes of action or affirmative defenses) and factual theory (i.e., an explanation of how a particular course of events could have happened). Particular classes of conspiracy theories address, e.g., antitrust (per

Sherman Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for ...

, 15 U.S.C. § 1) and

RICO The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was ...

. A prominent concept in conspiracy law is Pinkerton liability where a conspiracy theory can be used to hold a co-conspirator liable for a substantive offense committed by another co-conspirator “if the offense was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the agreement”. In civil law, a conspiracy theory 1) exempts co-conspirator testimony from the rule against hearsay; 2) exposes deep-pocket defendants to more liability than available under an aiding-and-abetting theory; 3) can impose joint liability on non-residents of the jurisdiction not liable under joint tortfeasor theory.

Taxonomy

From a

9th Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

case: "In the taxonomy of ''conspiracy theories'', a ' chain conspiracy' is one in which each person is responsible for a distinct act within the overall plan, while a ' wheel conspiracy' involves a single member or group, i.e., the 'hub', separately agreeing with two or more other members or groups, i.e., the 'spokes'."

Examples of term ''conspiracy theory'' in use

* Justice Sonia Sotomayor: "A conspiracy theory says you don't have to commit every act." (Comment during oral argument in ''Husky International Electronics, Inc., v. Daniel Lee Ritz, Jr.'') * In Federal jury instructions: "… There was evidence that the defendant masterminded the narcotics conspiracy and the plan to rob the undercover officer, and that evidence fully justified the defendant's conviction on an accomplice or conspiracy theory, regardless of where he was on the date of the murder. United States v. Thomas, 34 F.3d 44, 49 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1007, 115 S.Ct. 527, 130 L.Ed.2d 431 (1994)." (1A Fed. Jury Prac. & Instr. § 19:07 (6th ed.) Alibi—Explained, Second Circuit) * In preparation for the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

: "The American proposal is that we utilize the conspiracy theory by which a common plan or understanding to accomplish an illegal end by any mean, or to accomplish any end by illegal means, renders ''everyone who participated'' liable for the acts of every other." (From the ''Minutes of Conference Session of July 4, 1945. Document XX'', in ' Robert Jackson' (

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

justice and future US Chief Prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, supra n 44, at 129, as cited by Yanev in ''Theories of Co-perpetration in International Criminal Law'' with italics added by Yanev.)

In popular culture as a legal term

Jack McCoy (of

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

): "Basic ''conspiracy theory'', Your Honor. The left hand doesn't have to know what the right hand is doing, so long as they share a common criminal purpose."

Notes

References