CL Inchoate Offenses Flashcards
Inchoate Offense
Conduct that is intended to result in the commission of a substantive criminal offense
Types of inchoate offenses
Attempt, solicitation, conspiracy
CL Attempt
A person is guilty of criminal attempt when, with the intention to commit the crime, the person engages in conduct that constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that crime, whether or not the intention is accomplished.
Attempt Merger
- If a person commits the “target” offense, they may not be convicted of BOTH the target offense AND attempt.
- Failure to commit the target offense may even be an element of attempt in some jurisdictions.
Two types of CL Attempt
Complete: the actor does all the things she set out to do, but fails to achieve her goal.
Incomplete: the actor does some of the things necessary to achieve her goal, but quits or is prevented from completing
What act is enough to go from preparation to perpetuation?
CL: Act must be significant, attempt is a misdemeanor
Modern: tests to determine, attempt to commit felony is a felony but receives lighter sentence
People v. Gentry
D and his wife were in fight and D spilt gasoline on his wife next to open flame. She caught fire and D was charged with attempted murder. To be charged with attempted murder you must have the same mens rea required of murder
What tests
Last act Indespensible Element Physical Proximity Dangerous Proximity Unequivocality Probable Disistance
Last Act Test
Attempt occurs only when the person performs all the acts that she believed were necessary to commit the target offense.
Physical Proximity
Conduct must be proximate to the completed crime: it has to approach sufficiently near it to stand either as the first or some subsequent step in a direct movement towards the commission of the offense after the preparations are made.
Probable Desistance
Attempt occurs when, in the ordinary course of events, without interruption from an external source, the actor reached a point where it was unlikely that he would have voluntarily desisted from his effort to commit the crime. Factfinder assesses whether an ordinary person in the actor’s shoes has reached the point of no return.
Dangerous Proximity
The greater the gravity of and the probability of an offense, and the nearer the act is to the crime, then there’s a stronger case for calling it an attempt
Indispensable Element
In figuring out proximity, courts look at any indispensable aspect of the criminal endeavor over which the actor hasn’t yet acquired control.
Unequivocally
An act is not an attempt unless it ceases to be equivocal. Look at whether a person’s conduct, standing alone, unambiguously manifests her criminal intent.
Impossibility
Defense to attempt
Because of the defendant’s mistake of fact or law, his actions could not have resulted in the commission of the substantive crime underlying an attempt charge.
People v. Thousand
Guy messeging FBI agent he thought was underage girl, trying to get sex. A defendant can be convicted of attempt even if it is impossible to complete the underlying offense because there was no underage girl. Factual impossibility not a defense
