Facts
- Samuel Blechman held an insurance policy on a dwelling house in Hackensack, New Jersey.
- The State alleged that Blechman counseled George Polos to set fire to the insured dwelling so Blechman could collect insurance proceeds.
- Polos did not set any fire, and the dwelling was never burned.
- Blechman was indicted under R.S. 2:109-4 for counseling the burning of insured property with intent to prejudice or defraud the insurer.
- A jury in the Bergen County Court of Quarter Sessions found Blechman guilty, and he sought review by writ of error to the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- The appellate record was imperfect because the indictment and formal judgment were not printed, but the return included the trial record and apparently reflected a judgment on the verdict.
Issues
- Whether R.S. 2:109-4 criminalizes counseling or soliciting another to burn insured property with intent to defraud an insurer when no fire is set and no property is burned.
- Whether, at common law, counseling or soliciting another to commit an offense is punishable even if the solicited crime is never attempted or completed.
- Whether an indictment alleging only “counseling” states an offense under R.S. 2:109-4, and whether record defects required dismissal of the writ of error.
Decision
- The court affirmed the conviction.
- R.S. 2:109-4 creates an offense for aiding, counseling, procuring, or consenting to the burning of insured property with intent to defraud the insurer, independent of any completed burning.
- The statute’s treatment of counseling/solicitation was treated as largely declaratory of the common-law rule that solicitation is punishable even if the solicited crime is never carried out.
- The indictment was sufficient despite alleging only counseling and not alleging an actual burning.
- Although the record defects made the writ technically dismissible, the court reached the merits because the State did not press dismissal and the return appeared to contain the judgment.
Legal Principles
- Solicitation (counseling, inciting, or soliciting another to commit an offense) is a punishable offense even if the solicited crime is never attempted or completed.
- Under R.S. 2:109-4, counseling or soliciting another to set fire to insured property, with intent to prejudice or defraud an insurer, constitutes a high misdemeanor without proof of an actual burning.
- Solicitation is distinct from attempt: attempt requires an overt act toward commission of the target crime, while solicitation does not.
- Where the statutory text separately criminalizes burning insured property and counseling/procuring its burning, the counseling/procuring clause defines a standalone offense.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that counseling another to burn insured property to defraud an insurer is independently criminal under R.S. 2:109-4 and under common-law solicitation principles, even when no fire is set and no property is burned, and it affirmed the conviction.