Criminal law: Inchoate Offences Flashcards
Inchoate offenses: definition
Definition: Acts committed prior to and in preparation of a more serious offense. Inchoate offenses are complete offenses, even though the act to be done may not yet have been completed. All inchoate offenses are specific intent crimes.
List:
A. Attempt
B. Solicitation
C. Conspiracy
Attempt: Definition
An act or acts done with the intention of committing a crime, but which fall short of completing the crime.
Attempt: Elements
- specific intent to commit a crime (even if the completed crime is not a specific intent crime)
- the accused must take a substantial step toward completing the crime (must go beyond the stage of mere preparation to some firm, clear, and undeniable action)
under the common law, the accused must come dangerously close to successful completion of the crime
Attempt: merger
Attempt merges with the completed offense;
a defendant may not be convicted of both attempt and the completed crime assuming there is only one victim.
Attempt: Defense (3)
Factual Impossibility of Success:
Ask the following question: If the facts are as the accused believed them to be, would the accused be guilty of a crime? If so, factual impossibility is not a defense.
Legal Impossibility:
This is a defense, but is quite rare. It applies only in those situations where the completed act is not illegal (despite the fact that the accused thought it was illegal).
Abandonment:
This is not a defense at common law (but it is a defense under the M.P.C. if the abandonment/ renunciation is complete and truly voluntary).
Solicitation: Definition
Urging, inciting, or asking another person to commit a crime (e.g., hiring a hit-man) with the specific intent that the crime be committed.
The offense of solicitation is complete upon the asking or inciting.
Solicitation: it is NOT a defense that:
the other person was incapable of committing the crime (e.g., was a police officer)
the person asked to commit the crime is acquitted of the crime
the person asked to commit the crime fails to complete it
that the solicitor renounces or withdraws the solicitation (even if before the solicited crime is committed)
The M.P.C. recognizes renunciation as a defense if the soliciting party prevents commission of the crime
If the crime is committed, the solicitor is guilty of the crime as an accomplice.
Solicitation: merger
Solicitation merges with conspiracy, attempt, and the completed offense.
Conspiracy: Definition
An agreement between two or more people to commit a crime
The conspiracy ends when the underlying offense is completed, unless the parties also explicitly planned to conceal the crime;
acts of concealment, by themselves, are not sufficient to continue the conspiracy
Conspiracy: Elements
(1) agreement (express or implied) between two or more people
(2) specific intent to enter into an agreement (i.e., words or actions indicating that the defendant intended to join the conspiracy)
(3) specific intent to achieve the objective of the agreement; this requires two guilty minds (bilateral approach)—the second person cannot be a police officer or someone working with the police
The M.P.C. requires only one guilty mind for conspiracy (the unilateral approach)
(4) an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy (any act by any conspirator—even one of mere preparation—is sufficient)
Examples of Overt Acts: stealing a getaway car; buying a gun; conducting a dry-run of the crime; arranging an additional meeting of the conspirators; checking a weather report for the day of the crime
Conspiracy: merger
Conspiracy does NOT merge with attempt or the completed crime; thus, a person may be convicted of both conspiracy to commit murder and murder (or attempted murder)
Conspiracy: Criminal liability
All members of the conspiracy are liable for all foreseeable crimes committed in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy
(but are not liable for crimes committed before they joined the conspiracy)
Conspiracy: NOT defenses
(1) Impossibility of the crime is no defense
(2) ignorance of the law is no defense
(3) At common law, withdrawal from the conspiracy is never a defense to the conspiracy itself (the crime is complete as soon as an agreement is made and an overt act is committed).
A person may, however, withdraw from future crimes committed in furtherance of the conspiracy:
(a) if the person affirmatively notifies all members of conspiracy with such time that everyone has an opportunity to abandon his or her plans and
(b) if the withdrawing conspirator has provided material assistance, he or she must neutralize the assistance or notify the police
***The M.P.C. recognizes complete and voluntary withdrawal as a defense to the conspiracy itself if the defendant thwarts the success of the conspiracy (e.g., informs the police).
Conspiracy: if statute is designed to protect specific class
If a statute is designed to protect a particular class (e.g., statutory rape laws are designed to protect underage victims and child labor laws are designed to protect children), the protected person may not be convicted of solicitation, conspiracy, or accomplice liability for the completed offense even if the protected person solicits or aids in the crime and/or agrees to commit the crime
Conspiracy: If all other member of the conspiracy are acquitted
If all other members of the conspiracy are acquitted, the accused may not be convicted because he had no one with whom to conspire.
