## Facts

- Daniel St. Christopher told his cousin, Roger Zobel, that he wanted to kill his mother and asked Zobel to help.
- St. Christopher offered to pay Zobel $125,000 over time from money he expected to receive after his mother’s death.
- Zobel continued discussing the plan and acted as if he agreed, but later testified he never intended to participate.
- Zobel contacted police, who directed him to continue cooperating and to feign agreement.
- The plan became detailed, including timing to exploit the father’s absence and Zobel’s ability to gain entry to the farmhouse.
- Police monitored Zobel’s contacts with St. Christopher and arrested St. Christopher after he began carrying out the plan.
- After a bench trial, St. Christopher was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted first-degree murder and received a sentence (up to 20 years) on the conspiracy count.

## Issues

1. Whether Minnesota law permits a conspiracy conviction when the only supposed coconspirator feigns agreement while secretly cooperating with police.
2. Whether a defendant charged only with conspiracy to commit murder may be convicted of attempted first-degree murder as a lesser-included offense under Minn. Stat. § 609.04.
3. Whether alleged hearsay, judicial bias, or newly discovered evidence required a new trial.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the conspiracy conviction.
- The court held Minnesota’s conspiracy statute does not require proof that another participant genuinely intended to commit the crime; feigned agreement does not bar conviction.
- The court reversed the attempted first-degree murder conviction because it was not charged and is not a lesser-included offense of conspiracy under Minn. Stat. § 609.04.
- The court denied a new trial, finding no reversible error based on hearsay, bias, or newly discovered evidence.

## Legal Principles

- Minnesota follows a unilateral theory of conspiracy: a defendant may be convicted if the defendant, believing another person agreed, formed the criminal agreement and acted in furtherance, even if the other person secretly intended not to commit the crime.
- Conspiracy focuses on agreement (as defined by statute) plus an overt act; it does not require a true “meeting of the minds” with another person who shares criminal intent.
- A court may not convict a defendant of an uncharged offense unless it is a lesser-included offense within the charged crime under Minn. Stat. § 609.04.
- Attempted first-degree murder is not a lesser-included offense of conspiracy to commit murder because the offenses have distinct elements and theories of liability.

## Conclusion

The Minnesota Supreme Court sustained the conspiracy conviction by adopting a unilateral approach that allows conviction despite a feigning, police-cooperating “partner,” but reversed the attempted-murder conviction because it was neither charged nor included within the conspiracy charge.


State v. St. Christopher, 232 N.W.2d 798 (Minn. 1975)