Chapter 8: Inchoate Crimes Flashcards
criminal attempts
trying but failing to commit crimes
criminal conspiracy
making an agreement to commit a crime
criminal solicitation
trying to get someone else to commit a crime
inchoate offenses
from the Latin “to begin”; crimes that satisfy the mens rea of purpose or specific intent and the actus reus of taking some steps toward accomplishing the criminal purpose—but not enough steps to complete the intended crime
dangerous act rationale
looks at how close defendants came to completing their crimes
dangerous person rationale
concentrates on how fully defendants have developed their intent to commit their crime
general attempt statute
a single statute that applies the attempt to commit any crime in the state’s criminal code
specific attempt statutes
separate statutes that define attempts in terms of specific crimes in the criminal code, such as attempted murder, attempted robbery, and attempted rape—crimes that involved a specific intent
attempt mens rea
the specific intent to commit a crime
attempt actus reus
taking some steps toward completing a crime
last act rule
attempt actus reus requires all but the last act needed to complete the crime
proximity tests
help courts decide when defendants’ acts have taken them further than just getting ready to attempt and brought them close enough to completing crimes to qualify as attempt actus reus
dangerous proximity tests
focus on dangerous conduct; they look at what remains for actors to do before they hurt society by completing the crime
dangerous person tests
look at what actors have already done to demonstrate that they’re a danger to society, not just in this crime but, more important, in crimes they might commit in the future if they’re not dealt with now
dangerous proximity to success test (the physical proximity test)
asks whether defendants have come “dangerously close” to completing the crime
indispensable element test
asks whether defendants have reached a point where they’ve gotten control of everything they need to complete the crime
unequivocality test
(“the act speaks for itself”), examines whether an ordinary person who saw the defendant’s acts without knowing her intent would believe she was determined to commit the intended crime
probable desistance test
determines if defendants have gone far enough toward completing the crime that it’s unlikely they’ll turn back
MPC substantial steps test
test that requires that attempters take enough steps toward completing the crime to prove that they’re determined to commit it
legal impossibility
occurs when actors intend to commit crimes, and do everything they can to carry out their criminal intent, but the criminal law doesn’t ban what they did
factual impossibility
occurs when actors intend to commit a crime and try to but it’s physically impossible because some fact or circumstance unknown to them interrupts or prevents the completion of the crime
extraneous factor
a “stroke of luck”—namely, a circumstance beyond the attempter’s control that prevents the completion of the crime
voluntary abandonment defense
(also called voluntary renunciation defense). defendants who voluntarily and completely renounce their criminal purpose can avoid criminal liability
conspiracy
the crime of agreeing with one or more people to commit a crime
