What would the Washington state have to prove in order to find the boys guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder?

Question

Two fifth grade boys out in Washington state had a plan that was caught by their teacher to kill one girl and injure six others. Both boys will be tried as juveniles.

The fifth graders, who are 11 and 10 years old, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment this past Friday over the alleged murder plot in Colville, Washington, about 215 miles east of Seattle.

When one of the boys was asked why they wanted the girl dead he admitted, "She's rude and always made fun of me and my friends".

Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said that a judge on Friday found the boys to have the capacity to understand right and wrong.

“'The 10-year-old suspect was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, juvenile firearm possession and witness tampering. The 11-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, possession of a dangerous weapon, a knife, at school and tampering with a witness,' Rasmussen said,” according to Yahoo.

The 10 year old took a gun that was originally from his grandfather that was in his older brother's room. The suspects then boarded the bus on the way to their elementary school with a knife, a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition in a backpack. When a young girl saw the knife on the bus by accident, she reported it to a teacher’s aide as soon as she got into the school. A teacher found a list of six targeted suspects in addition to another girl that they had planned to kill.

The boys planned to lure the girl away from school in Colville according to court documents.

If convicted of all charges, the boys could each be sentenced to 103 to 127 weeks unless a judge finds "manifest injustice" and orders a longer sentence, Rasmussen said.

Answer 1

When looking at the charge, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, or any other charge for a criminal case it is usually easiest to break the charge down and look for evidences that supports the charge. So lets start with first-degree murder, which is typically a murder that takes place after the individual planned it. For this case, we know that there was planning involved since the boy had a "checklist" of victims. So we can assume the intent was there. You may also hear this refereed to as the mens rea of the case. Additionally, we know that the plan was stopped by the teachers aid so no actual murder took place. This is why the prosecutors pursued conspiracy to commit first-degree murder; The planning itself and intent to commit the murder is the crime they are being charged with. I hope this helped and feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!