State v. Mendoza
Rhode Island Supreme Court
889 A.2d 153 (2005)
Relevant factsFree
Undercover detectives posed as drug buyers; a middleman, Clement, led one detective to a house where Antonio Mendoza (defendant) sold him crack cocaine, which Clement then handed to the detective. Mendoza was convicted of conspiracy to violate the state's Controlled Substances Act and moved for acquittal, arguing that under Wharton's Rule no conspiracy could exist because the underlying drug sale itself already required an agreement between buyer and seller, making a separate conspiracy charge a legal impossibility.
IssueFree
Whether, under Wharton's Rule, a conspiracy can arise between only two individuals when the substantive crime requires that at least two persons act in concert to commit it.