Attempt to commit a crime
Attempt to commit a crime refers to the act of intending to engage in criminal behavior and taking significant steps toward completing that act, even if the crime ultimately does not occur. This concept falls under the broader category of inchoate crimes, which also includes conspiracy and solicitation. In criminal law, attempts are taken seriously, with specific intent being necessary to establish an attempt, as one must purposely want to commit a crime. Notably, statutes governing attempted crimes often impose lesser penalties compared to completed crimes, reflecting a legal recognition of the difference between intention and successful execution.
To constitute an attempt, an individual must move beyond mere preparation and take substantial steps toward executing their criminal intention. Laws regarding what qualifies as a substantial step can vary by state, and certain actions, such as merely acquiring tools for a crime, may not meet the threshold for an attempt unless they are brought to the scene of the intended crime. Defenses against charges of attempted crimes include abandonment, where individuals argue they voluntarily renounced their intentions, and legal impossibility, where the act in question is not defined as a crime. Conversely, factual impossibility does not serve as a valid defense, as it implies that the intended crime could have been completed but for an unforeseen obstacle. Understanding the nuances of attempt laws can shed light on the legal system's approach to deterring potentially dangerous behavior.
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Attempt to commit a crime
SIGNIFICANCE: Statutes banning attempted crimes are designed to deter dangerous behavior and potentially dangerous persons; however, criminal law consistently imposes lesser penalties on attempted crimes than on completed crimes.
Criminal law punishes both complete and uncompleted crimes. Uncompleted crimes, also called inchoate crimes, include attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation. Of the three, those who attempt to commit crimes get punished most severely.
As failures to achieve designated goals, attempts require specific intent and conscious efforts to achieve those goals that ultimately are not realized. Criminal law punishes those who attempt to commit crimes to deter persons who have manifested “dangerous conduct” from continuing with their criminal pursuits. The first component of an attempt to commit a crime is intent: One must purposely want to commit a crime. In People v. Terry (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court held that “one cannot attempt to commit a crime which one does not intend to commit.”
The second component of an attempt to commit a crime is acts. An unlawful attempt requires its actor to take steps that exceed mere preparations to commit the crime. As people cannot be punished simply for harboring evil thoughts, the law requires that some significant steps be taken toward acting on the unlawful intent. State laws vary as to how many steps distinguish preparations from attempts. While the majority of states and the Model Penal Code require that “substantial steps” be taken toward completing the intended crime, some statutes specify merely “some steps.” Most states classify activities such as purchasing weapons to use in crimes as preparations, not attempts. However, if the weapons or other devices of crime are actually taken to crime scenes, those actions may fulfill the substantial steps requirement of attempt.
A variety of defenses are used by people charged with attempting to commit crimes. For example, they may claim abandonment, arguing that they voluntarily renounced their intent to commit crimes. For such a defense to work, the accused persons must demonstrate that their abandonment was both voluntary and complete; it should not have been prompted by extraneous or outside factors, such as other persons walking in on the crime scenes. Postponing the intended crimes or transferring an intended crime to another target does not constitute abandonment.
A second defense is impossibility. However, only legal, not factual, impossibilities constitute a defense to attempt a crime. An act constitutes a legal impossibility if it is not defined by law as a crime. Keeping with the principle of legality, there cannot be a punishment. Factual impossibility is not a defense to attempt because but for some extraneous factor unknown to the actor that prevents the crime from happening, the crime would have been completed.
Bibliography
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