West Virginia Code 61-11-8a – Solicitation to commit certain felonies; classification; defenses
(a) Any person who solicits another to commit a violation of the law which constitutes a felony crime of violence against the person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 61-11-8a
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) Confined in a state correctional facility for not less than three nor more than fifteen years if the offense solicited is punishable by life imprisonment;
(2) Imprisoned in the state correctional facility for not less than one nor more three years or fined not more than $5,000, or both, if the offense solicited is punishable by incarceration in the state correctional facility for a term of less than life imprisonment. In the circuit court's discretion a person so convicted may be ordered confined in jail for a term not to exceed one year in lieu of incarceration in a state correctional facility;
(b)(1) As used in this section, "solicitation" means the willful and knowing instigation or inducement of another to commit a felony crime of violence against the person of a third person; and
(2) As used in this section, "felony crime of violence against the person" means the felony offense set forth in sections one, nine, ten-b and twelve, article two of this chapter.
(c) In a prosecution under the provisions of this section, it is not a defense:
(1) That the defendant belongs to a class of persons who by definition are legally incapable in an individual capacity of committing the crime that is the object of the solicitation; or
(2) That a person whom the defendant solicits could not be guilty of a crime that is the object of the solicitation.
(d) It is an affirmative and complete defense to a prosecution under the provisions of this section that the defendant under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of the defendant's criminal intent, after soliciting another person to engage in conduct constituting a felony, prevented the commission of the crime.