Inchoate Offenses Flashcards
An Inchoate Offense is
an “incomplete offense.”
The three forms of Inchoate Offense are:
1) Solicitation;
2) Attempt;
3) Conspiracy.
The mental state attending the crime of Solicitation is
Specific Intent. One intend the solicitation.
Solicitation occurs when an individual
asks another individual to commit a crime, and the crime is completed after the question is asked.
Under Common Law, to be found guilty of solicitation it is not necessary that
the person you ask to commit a crime agrees.
Factual Impossibility is
NOT a defense to Solicitiation
Conspiracy is
an agreement with an attempt to agree, and an attempt to pursue.
What happens between Conspiracy and the Substantive Event?
The two crimes DO NOT merge, you are guilty of them both.
Each conspirator is liable for ALL the crimes of co-conspirators IF
the crimes are in furtherance of the conspiracy AND are reasonably foreseeable.
The agreement underlying a conspiracy may be
IMPLIED, it does not need to be an express agreement.
The Bilateral/Common Law Approach to Conspiracy requires
TWO guilty parties. If one person is merely feigning agreement, no conspiracy.
The Unilateral/Modern/MPC Approach to Conspiracy requires
that only one person have a criminal intent.
The Majority Rule holds that Conspiracy requires agreement PLUS
some overt, MINOR, act in furtherance of the conspiracy, even an act of mere preparation.
Minority Rule/Common Law grounded liability for Conspiracy in
the agreement itself, no additional acts needed.
Withdrawal will NEVER serve to
relieve liability for the conspiracy itself. It can only mitigate/eliminate liability for later acts of former co-conspirators.
Factual Impossibility is NOT a defense to
Conspiracy.
The Crime of Attempt consists of
1) Specific Intent to commit a crime AND 2) an overt act in furtherance of the crime.
Mere preparation is NOT
a ground for Attempt Liability. The overt act must be in furtherance of the commission of the crime.
The Majority Rule holds that once the defendant has taken a
SUBSTANTIAL STEP towards committing a crime, abandonment is NEVER defense.
The MPC allows for the abandonment defense to attempt liability ONLY IF
the abandonment is fully voluntary and a complete renunciation of criminal purpose.
Legal Impossibility IS a viable defense to Attempt, because
It is not possible to illegally do something which one can legally do!
Factual Impossibility is NOT
a defense to Attempt.
