Inchoate Crimes Flashcards

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1
Q

Inchoate Crimes

A

Crimes that are committed when an intended crime (target offense) is not fully completed or accomplished. Includes, solicitation, attempt, and conspiracy.

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2
Q

Merger

A

Keep in mind that if the target offense is completed or accomplished, the crimes of solicitation and attempt merge with the target offense (but the crime of conspiracy does not).

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3
Q

Solicitation

A

When D requests or encourages another person to commit a criminal offense + specific intent that the solicitee commit the crime (remember that encouragement without intent is not enough).

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4
Q

When is the Crime of Solicitation Completed?

A

The crime of solicitation is completed at the time the solicitation is made.

-If the solicited criminal completed the offense, merger occurs, and the solicitor is guilty as an accessory before the fact.

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5
Q

What Happens When a Solicitee Attempts a Crime but is Unsuccessful?

A

Merger does not occur and solicitor would be guilty of solicitation and attempt (accessory before the fact).

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6
Q

Solicitation: Request or Encourage

A

Broadly understood to include enticements, urgings, advisements, and demands.

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7
Q

Solicitation: Mens Rea

A

The D must have a specific intent that the solicitee perform the target offense. Mere approval by D is not enough.

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8
Q

Response by Solicited Parties

A

A solicitee does not have to respond for a solicitor to be guilty (as long as all of the elements are satisfied).

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9
Q

Solicitation v. Conspiracy

A
  • Keep in mind that the act of making the request amounts to solicitation.
  • But if the solicitee agrees and an overt act is later committed, there is conspiracy.
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10
Q

Solicitation: Protected Classes

A

A solicitor may not be guilty of the offense if they are a member of the class of persons the law seeks to protect (e.g. minor in relation to statutory rape).

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11
Q

Defenses to Solicitation

A

Can include voluntary intoxication and unreasonable mistake of fact (because they negate specific intent).

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12
Q

Inadequate Defenses to Solicitation

A

Include impossibility or renunciation or withdrawal.

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13
Q

Attempt

A

When D specifically intended to bring about a criminal result + took a significant overt act in furtherance of that intent.

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14
Q

What Happens for Attempt if the Target Offense is Completed?

A

The attempt merges into the target crime.

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15
Q

Attempt: Significant Overt Act

A

Requires perpetration rather than mere preparation. Tests include the proximity test; the equivocality test; and the MPC test.

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16
Q

Proximity Test

A

Looks at how close in time and physical distance a D was to the time and place the target crime was to be committed.

17
Q

Equivocality Test

A

Requires that Ds conduct to be such that it can have no other purpose than the commission of the crime attempted.

18
Q

MPC Test

A

Looks at whether the D took a step toward the offense substantial enough to corroborate the D’s criminal intent.

19
Q

Attempt: Legal Impossibility

A

Is a defense to attempt crimes

20
Q

Attempt: Factual Impossibility

A

Is not a defense (when a person intends to commit crime but present facts don’t allow it).

21
Q

Attempt: Abandonment or Withdrawal

A

Is not a defense once the attempt is complete. But a minority of jurisdictions recognize a voluntary and complete abandonment before commission of an offense.

22
Q

Attempt: Voluntary Abandonment

A

A true change of heart. Not giving up in the face of difficulties or an increased likelihood of being caught.

23
Q

Attempt: Complete Abandonment

A

The D is not merely postponing commission of the crime.

24
Q

Conspiracy

A

When one agrees with one or more other persons to commit a crime and any of the conspirators then takes an overt act in furtherance of that agreement.

25
Q

Conspiracy: Actus Reus (Agreement with Other Persons)

A

P must show that at least two people shared an intent to commit a crime (actual agreement is generally required).

26
Q

Conspiracy: Undercover Cops

A

An agreement between just one individual and an undercover cop will not support a conspiracy charge (because there is only one person there is no conspiracy).

27
Q

Conspiracy: Actus Reus (Overt Acts in Furtherance of the Agreement)

A

This element can be satisfied by an act that is itself not criminal or unlawful (but must involve perpetration rather than preparation).

28
Q

Conspiracy: Mens Rea

A

Requires both the intent to agree and the intent to achieve the objective of the agreement.

29
Q

Conspiracy: Accomplice Liability

A

If a Ds co-conspirator commits the target offense, the D will be guilty of the target offense as well (because the D aided or abetted the co-conspirator).

30
Q

Crimes of Co-Conspirator Other than Targeted Offense (Pinkerton Doctrine)

A

The Pinkerton doctrine holds that D can be liable if:

  • D was a party to the conspiracy
  • the offense was within the scope of the conspiracy
  • the offense was committed in furtherance of the conspiracy
  • the D could have reasonably foreseen the offense as a “necessary or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement”
31
Q

Conspiracy: Corporations

A

Because a corporation and its agent are considered one person, no conspiracy can exist between them (but watch out for conspiracy between agents).

32
Q

Conspiracy: The Wharton Rule

A

When a crime is so defined as to require two or more people to commit it –> a conspiracy conviction requires an additional person beyond the statute-mandated #.

33
Q

Crimes that Fall Under the Wharton Rule

A

Include:

  • Dueling
  • Bigamy
  • Incest
  • Adultery
  • Gambling
  • Giving and receiving bribes
34
Q

Conspiracy: Procedural Considerations

A
  • It is not necessary to try more than one conspirator
  • However, if all other alleged co-conspirators are acquitted of the conspiracy charge, the remaining alleged co-conspirator must be acquitted.
35
Q

Conspiracy: Protected Classes

A

A member of a class that is sought to be protected from certain conduct may avoid a conspiracy charge for engaging in that conduct.

36
Q

Conspiracy: Impossibility

A

Is not a defense.

37
Q

Conspiracy: Abandonment or Withdrawal

A

The general rule is that abandonment or withdrawal is not a defense to conspiracy if all the elements are met, but it will cut off liability for future crimes committed in furtherance of the conspiracy.

38
Q

Conspiracy: Renunciation (Minority Rule)

A

The minority rule that allows the defendant to shed liability for the conspiracy if:

  • (withdrawal)- the renouncing party gives timely notice of his plans to all members of the conspiracy and
  • (affirmative act)- the renouncing party performs an affirmative act to thwart the success of the conspiracy.
39
Q

Can a D Be Guilty of Both Attempt & Conspiracy?

A

Yes.