Inchoate Offenses Flashcards
Inchoate
- inchoate means incomplete
- 3 inchoate offenses: solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt
Solicitation
1-Rule-solicitation is asking someone to commit a crime–the crime ends when you ask them
2-note that under the common law, it is not necessary that the person solicited agree to commit the crime
3-what if the person you ask to commit the crime agrees to do it?–then it becomes a conspiracy and the solicitation merges and the only crime left when the other person agrees to do it is conspiracy
4-factual impossibility is no defense
Conspiracy
1-Rule-conspiracy is an agreement, with an intent to agree, and an intent to pursue a lawful objective
2-Notes on common law conspiracy:
a-conspiracy does not merge with the substatntive offense
b-liability for co-conspirators’ crimes: each conspirator is liable for ALL the crimes of co-conspirators if those crimes were committed in furtherance of the conspiracy and were foreseeable
c-agreement requirement for conspiracies: the agreement need not be expressed–intent can be inferred from conduct (common law required 2 guilty parties; modern trend is that only 1 person needs genuine criminal intent)
d-overt act requirement: the majority rule is that in order to ground liability for conspiracy there must be an agreement plus some overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy–minority rule and common law rule grounded liability for conspiracy w/ the agreement itself
e-factual impossibility is no defense
f-withdrawal, even if it’s adequate, can never relieve the defendant from liability for the conspiracy itself
Attempt
1-rule-i) specific intent plus ii) overt act in furtherance of the crime
2-for purposes of attempt, the overt act must be a substantial step in furtherance of the commission of the crime; thus, mere preparation cannot ground liability for attempt
3-Defense of Abandonment-majority rule is that, once D has taken a substantial step toward committing the crime, abandonment is never a defense–MPC allows for this defense only if it’s fully voluntary and a complete renunciation of criminal purpose
4-impossibility-legal impossibility is a defense to attempt; but factual impossibility is not a defense
