ADJUS-121 Lecture 22: Adjus_121_-_Lecture_22
20 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
When an actor is attempting to commit a crime, and it is impossible for the actor to commit that crime by the method chosen by the actor. At common law, factual impossibility was no defense to a charge of attempt, but legal impossibility was. Factual impossibility: if it was impossible to complete the crime because of some facts of which the defendant was not aware. Legal impossibility: if it was impossible to complete the crime, because there was no crime on the books. At traditional law, the application of this rule was inconsistent and convoluted. Criminal theorists started to observe that courts were deciding whether the defendant was the type of person that should be held for trial and then using the appropriate label of factual or legal impossibility to legitimize the result. Under mpc 5. 01(a): in practically every situation in which it was impossible to complete the crime, the defendant can be found guilty of attempt.
