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People v. Sconce | 279 Cal.Rptr. 59 (1991)

In criminal law, when two or more individuals agree to commit an illegal act in the future and engage in an overt act in furtherance of that agreement, they’ve committed a conspiracy. Consequently, because proof of an overt act is normally required, a conspirator may effectively withdraw from the conspiracy prior to the commission of the overt act. In the 1991 case People versus Sconce, the California Court of Appeal considered whether a defendant could use withdrawal as a complete defense to conspiracy after the commission of an overt act.

In 1985, Estephan and Cindy Strunk, husband and wife, separated. At the time, Cindy worked for the Cremation Society of California, or CSC. While working for CSC, Cindy met David Sconce, whose family owned a funeral home and crematorium. In addition, in 1985, Cindy met Sconce’s brother-in-law, Brad Sallard, who she started dating while she was still married to Estephan.

In June 1985, Estephan served Cindy with divorce papers. Cindy then hired a lawyer, and Sallard and Sconce went with her to their first meeting. During that meeting, Cindy told the lawyer that Estephan had a $250,000 life insurance policy under which she was named as beneficiary.

After an argument between Estephan and Cindy a few months later, Sconce offered Bob Garcia, an employee at the funeral home, ten thousand dollars to kill Estephan. Sconce told Garcia that Estephan had a large life insurance policy and that he wanted the insurance money. Roughly one week later, Sconce and Garcia went to a restaurant across the street from where Estephan worked, and Sconce used binoculars to point Estephan out and gave Garcia Estephan’s home address.

Garcia then contacted Herbert Dutton, an ex-convict who lived next door to him, who agreed to kill Estephan for five thousand dollars. That night, Garcia and Dutton drove to Estephan’s house. On the way there, the two men decided that Dutton would place a bomb under Estephan’s car. But a few days later, Dutton was arrested and wasn’t able to commit the planned murder.

Three weeks after Sconce’s conversation with Garcia, Sconce called the plan off and told Garcia to disregard it. Subsequently, Sconce was arrested and charged in state superior court with conspiracy to commit murder. In the information, the People alleged various overt acts, including Sconce’s pointing out of Estephan and Garcia’s trip to Estephan’s house with Dutton. Prior to trial, Sconce moved to set aside the information, which the court granted, concluding that Sconce withdrew from the conspiracy. The People appealed to the California Court of Appeal.

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