State v. Pond

Summary

The court held that a defendant cannot be convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery in the second degree unless the state proves that the defendant specifically intended the planned robbery to include the display or threatened use of a purported deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. Because the jury instruction omitted that essential mens rea requirement, the defendant was entitled to a new trial. The court affirmed the Appellate Court's judgment reversing the conviction and remanding for a properly instructed trial.