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Chapter 9

Chapter 9. Inchoate Crimes. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES. Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to: discuss the theory of punishment for inchoate crimes. explain the crime of attempt. understand the crime of solicitation. identify the elements of the crime of conspiracy.

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Chapter 9

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  1. Chapter 9 Inchoate Crimes

  2. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES • Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to: • discuss the theory of punishment for inchoate crimes. • explain the crime of attempt. • understand the crime of solicitation. • identify the elements of the crime of conspiracy.

  3. INCOMPLETE CRIMES • Inchoate crimes • Crimes that were never completed • Are also known as anticipatory, incomplete, incipient, preliminary, and preparatory crimes • A criminal’s failed efforts to complete a crime do not excuse the criminal behavior or provide a defense to criminal liability.

  4. INCOMPLETE CRIMES • The following are three distinct inchoate crimes defined under common law, which are still valid today: • Attempt • Conspiracy • Solicitation

  5. INCOMPLETE CRIMES • 3 elements connected with inchoate crimes: • A specific intent or purpose to commit the crime or to cause harm must be present. • Some action must have occurred in furtherance of that intent or purpose. • Lesser penalties should typically be charged for inchoate crimes.

  6. ATTEMPT • Attempt • To actually try to commit a crime and have the actual ability to do so • The elements of a criminal attempt are: • An intent or purpose to commit a specific crime • An act or acts taken to carry out the intent to commit the crime • Failure to complete the crime

  7. ATTEMPT • Mens Rea of Attempt • The mens rea is the intent or purpose to commit a specific crime. • In order to fulfill the mens rea requirement for the crime of attempt: • the person must intend to commit a specific crime; • and have the intent necessary to commit a substantive act in furtherance of that specific crime.

  8. ATTEMPT • Actus Reus of Attempt • The most difficult question in an attempt case is when does the defendant cross the line between mere preparation and the actual attempt. • The four main tests that are used in most jurisdictions are: • Physical proximity test • Probable desistance test • Equivocality test • Substantial step test

  9. ATTEMPT • The physical proximity test • Involves how close the defendant came to completing the crime • The probable desistance test • Examines the defendant’s conduct to see if it meets the requirement that the conduct has gone beyond the point at which the defendant would voluntarily, on her own without any interference from an outside source, stop short of completing the crime

  10. ATTEMPT • Desist • To cease an activity • The equivocality test • Examines the defendant’s conduct in order to determine if the conduct unequivocally manifested the defendant’s criminal intent • The test examines whether the conduct has no other purpose than that of a commission of the crime.

  11. ATTEMPT • The substantial step test • States that a defendant’s act or omission to act constitutes a substantial step if the course of conduct planned by the defendant would lead to the defendant’s commission of the crime • The Model Penal Code approach also looks for corroborating evidence in the form of conduct that tends to confirm or verify the criminal intent possessed by the defendant.

  12. ATTEMPT • Failure to Complete the Crime • The courts will look at the reasons why the crime failed in determining whether or not this element is present. • Sometimes, the defendant can take every action necessary to commit a crime, but, due to external circumstances, he is unable to complete the crime.

  13. ATTEMPT • Legal impossibility • A defense to attempt because a person cannot be guilty of attempting an action that is not a crime • Example: It is not illegal to steal from an empty purse. • Factual impossibility • Occurs when the defendant is mistaken about an issue of fact • Is not a defense to the crime of attempt except in Minnesota • Example: John intends to poison Sally, but instead of purchasing poison, he purchases sugar in order to accomplish the task.

  14. ATTEMPT • Renunciation • Abandonment of effort to commit a crime • In order for the defense of renunciation to succeed: • the defendant must demonstrate that she abandoned the crime for moral reasons. • Common law is not decisive on whether or not withdrawal or abandonment relieves a defendant of liability.

  15. CONSPIRACY • Conspiracy • By agreement, parties work together to create an illegal result, to achieve an unlawful end. • A conspiracy is the only inchoate crime that a person can be charged with in addition to the substantive crime. • The legal theory behind the law of conspiracy is that people working together can be more dangerous than people working alone.

  16. CONSPIRACY • The elements of a conspiracy are as follows: • An agreement between two or more persons to commit the crime • A specific intent or purpose to commit the crime • An overt act in furtherance of the agreement • overt act • Identifiable commission or omission, an intentional tort requirement

  17. CONSPIRACY • The Model Penal Code recognizes 4 types of agreements that can be considered conspiratorial: • An agreement to commit an offense • An agreement to attempt to commit an offense • An agreement to solicit someone else to commit an offense • An agreement to aid another person in the planning or commission of the offense

  18. CONSPIRACY • The intent requirement of conspiracy can take on two forms: • The unilateral • One-sided; relating to only one of two or more persons or things • The bilateral (or plurality) • Affecting or obligating both parties • Wharton’s rule • States that a conspiracy needs to have at least three people involved in order to be considered a conspiracy

  19. CONSPIRACY • Parties to a Conspiracy • In a conspiracy, every person involved in the conspiracy is liable for every offense committed by every other person who is a party to the conspiracy. • A wheel conspiracy • Applies to an agreement in which there is a ringleader who deals with each of the other parties in the conspiracy, but the other parties don’t deal with each other

  20. CONSPIRACY • A chain conspiracy • There is a sequence of events or links that have to be successfully performed within the agreement. • The participants do not always know or deal with each other. • Defenses • Certain defenses are applicable to the crime of conspiracy.

  21. SOLICITATION • Solicitation • The crime of inducing or encouraging another to commit a crime • The elements for the crime of solicitation are: • the intent that another party commit the crime and • asking, encouraging, or requesting another party to commit a crime.

  22. SOLICITATION • The specific actus reus required for the crime of solicitation involves words. • Those words must command, counsel, encourage, entice, incite, instigate, urge, or induce someone else to commit the crime. • Inducement • The act or process of enticing or persuading another person to take a certain course of action

  23. SUMMARY • Inchoate crimes are crimes that were never completed. • Attempt is, in many ways, a failure of a crime. • A conspiracy may be found where no substantive crime has been committed. • A solicitation occurs when someone asks someone else to commit a crime for him.

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