Under New York law, which inchoate offenses merge?

• A. Attempt merges; Solicitation and Conspiracy remain separate
• B. Attempt and Conspiracy merge; Solicitation remains separate
• C. Solicitation and Conspiracy merge; Attempt remains separate
• D. None merge; all remain separate

Answer: (A)

Under New York law, only the attempt merges with the completed offense; the other two inchoate offenses stay as separate crimes. This means that if someone attempts to commit a crime, that attempt is treated as essentially the same conduct as the crime itself and, for purposes of punishment, it merges into the completed offense so you don’t get duplicative punishment for both the attempt and the crime.

Solicitation and conspiracy, however, remain distinct offenses. Solicitation is a separate crime that occurs when one person asks or encourages another to commit a crime, and it does not dissolve into the crime solicited. Conspiracy requires an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime and an overt act in furtherance of that agreement, and it is charged separately from the actual crime—even if the crime is carried out.

So the best answer reflects that attempt merges with the underlying criminal objective, while solicitation and conspiracy do not merge with each other or with the completed crime.