I would think that it depend on if the other person really did tell them to commit the murder. Charles Manson is a prime example of someone telling others to commit murder.

This is in response to Massey. I beleive the person that said it could be held resposible. Like I said before Charles Manson is a prime example. Maybe you don't remember the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. She and several others were brutally murdered by a group of Manson followers. The people who committed the crime were prosecuted and so was Charles Manson. Manson did not kill anyone in the house or on the property of the Tate murder. In interviews he says that he never told anyone to kill these people, but he has admitted to insinuating a killing. In other words he never outright said go kill. To this day he sits in prison. The tate murders happened in I beleive the 70's. So again I think that telling someone to go kill could end you in prison. Hope this helps.

Heather is correct about the Manson murders. Actually, there were 2 that of Sharon Tate and that of the LaBianca family both done by Manson family members. Charles Manson was not directly involved in either murder, but he initiated the killings by convincing his followers that the "pigs" must die. And so those he identified as "pigs" were murdered at his bidding. This is well documented and a fact. See: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/manson/murder_1.html There have also been cases where there were mitigating circumstances such as an indovidual who told a severely retarded man to go kill somebody and thus he did. He did not understand, because of his diminished capacity, that what he was doing was wrong. The person who had no such inabilities to not know the difference between right or wrong instructed the other to kill, so that person was convicted and the mentally handicapped man was institutionalized. Depending on each individual situation, it is absolutely possible for the instructor to be criminally responsible.

Well, if a person walked to the river and jumped in, would you do it?

Yes. Conspiracy.

Yes, and if the other person made any indication that they would reward the killer for the deed, they can be charged with hiring a murder.

yes... they are the bad guy's patsy/accomplice

depends if they were serious or offered u anything for doing it then it would be a hit

Maybe. There are two legal theories that could apply to make the other person liable: 1) accomplice liability, and 2) conspiracy. Those who referenced the Sharon Tate murder, there Manson was convicted of conspiracy. If you conspire to a commit a crime, you are responsible for the completed crime even if you did not take part. Thus, the question becomes "does telling someone to commit murder rise to the level of conspiracy?" The answer depends on what jurisdiction you live in. In most states, conspiracy requires an agreement to carry out a criminal act coupled with an affirmative act in furtherance of the conspiracy. In a minority states all you need is an agreement. Here, we don't have an affirmative act, so in most states there would be no liability. However, we also don't have an agreement (based on the facts as giving). Going back to the Manson murders, Charles Manson was convicted of conspiracy based on the prosecutions evidence that he had a stake in committing the killings. However, don't confuse the result of that trial with a broad rule of law. Trials are not about what happened. Rather, they are about what can you prove to a jury. Thus, long story short, if you could prove that ALL the other person did was tell another to kill, then there is no liability. However, if you can prove that someone said such a thing, you could also probably convince a jury that the person actually conspired to commit the crime.