Inchoate offense

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An inchoate offense, preliminary crime, inchoate crime or incomplete crime is a crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is "attempt". "Inchoate offense" has been defined as the following: "Conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done, provided that the harm that would have occurred is one the law tries to prevent." [1] [2]

Contents

Intent

Every inchoate crime or offense must have the mens rea of intent or of recklessness, typically intent. Absent a specific law, an inchoate offense requires that the defendant have the specific intent to commit the underlying crime. For example, for a defendant to be guilty of the inchoate crime of solicitation of murder, he or she must have intended for a person to die.[ citation needed ]

Attempt, [3] conspiracy, [4] and solicitation [5] all require mens rea. [6]

On the other hand, committing an offense under the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act merely requires "knowing", [7] that is, recklessness. Facilitation also requires "believing", [8] yet another way of saying reckless.[ citation needed ]

Intent may be distinguished from recklessness and criminal negligence as a higher mens rea. [9]

Proof of intent

Specific intent may be inferred from circumstances. [10] It may be proven by the doctrine of "dangerous proximity", while the Model Penal Code requires a "substantial step in a course of conduct". [11]

Merger doctrine

The doctrine of merger has been abandoned in many jurisdictions in cases involving a conspiracy, allowing an accused to be convicted of both conspiracy and the principal offense. However, an accused cannot be convicted of either attempt or solicitation and the principal offense. [12]

Defenses

A number of defences are possible to the charge of an inchoate offense, depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the offense. [13]

Impossibility

Impossibility is no defence to the crime of attempt where the conditions creating the impossibility are unknown to the actor. [14]

Originally at common law, impossibility was a complete defence; [15] as it was under French law at one point. [16] Indeed, the ruling in Collins's Case L. and C. 471 was that an offender cannot be guilty of an attempt to steal his own umbrella when he mistakenly believes that it belongs to another. Although the "moral guilt" for the attempt and the actual crime were the same, there was a distinction between the harm caused by a theft and the harmlessness of an impossible act. [17] This principle was directly overruled in England with the rulings R v Ring and R v. Brown [18] The example from R v Brown of an attempt to steal from an empty pocket is now a classic example of illustrating the point that impossibility is no defense to the crime of attempt when the conditions creating the impossibility are unknown to the actor. This principle has been codified in the Model Penal Code:

A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime if, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for commission of the crime he: purposely engages in conduct which would constitute the crime if the attendant circumstances were as he believes them to be. MPC § 5.01 (1)(a) (emphasis added).

Consequently, the principle is universal in the United States either in Model Penal Code jurisdictions (40 states) or those remaining common law jurisdictions influenced by the reasoning in R v Brown. [19]

Other cases that illustrate the case law for impossibility defences are People v. Lee Kong (CA, 1892), State v. Mitchell (MO, 1902), and United States v. Thomas (1962) .

Abandonment

A defendant may plead and prove, as an affirmative defense, that they:

Disputes

Burglaries as inchoate crimes

There is some scholarly treatment of burglaries in American law as inchoate crimes, but this is in dispute. According to scholar Frank Schmalleger, burglaries "are actually inchoate crimes in disguise." [20]

Other scholars warn about the consequences of such a theory:

Burglary, as a preliminary step to another crime, can be seen as an inchoate, or incomplete, offense. As it disrupts the security of persons in their homes and in regard to their personal property, however, it is complete as soon as the intrusion is made. This dual nature is at the heart of a debate about whether the crime of burglary ought to be abolished, leaving its elements to be covered by attempt or as aggravating circumstances to other crimes, or retained and the grading schemes reformed to reflect the seriousness of the individual offense.

— McCord and McCord. [21]

Certainly, possession of burglary tools, in those jurisdictions that criminalize that activity, creates an inchoate crime ( going equipped in the UK). [22] It is clear that:

In effect piling an inchoate crime onto an inchoate crime, the possession of burglary tools with the intent to use them in a burglary is a serious offense, a felony in some jurisdictions. Gloves that a defendant was trying to shake off as he ran from the site of a burglary were identified as burglar's tools in Green v. State (Fla. App. 1991).

— McCord and McCord. [21]

Examples

Examples of inchoate offenses include conspiracy, solicitation, facilitation, misprision of felony (and misprision generally), organized crime, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and attempt, as well as some public health crimes; see the list below. [2]

List of inchoate offenses

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assault</span> Physical or verbal attack of another person

An assault is the illegal act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. Assault is frequently referred to as an attempt to commit battery, which is the deliberate use of physical force against another person. The deliberate inflicting of fear, apprehension, or terror is another definition of assault that can be found in several legal systems. Depending on the severity of the offense, assault may result in a fine, imprisonment, or even death.

In criminal law, mens rea is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of mens rea and actus reus before the defendant can be found guilty.

Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) and housebreaking, is the act of illegally entering a building or other areas without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, larceny, robbery, or murder, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary. To commit burglary is to burgle, a term back-formed from the word burglar, or to burglarize.

Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause" another person to attempt or commit a crime, with the purpose of thereby facilitating the attempt or commission of that crime.

The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime, the offender, and also the offender's accomplices or co-conspirators, may be found guilty of murder.

Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to "disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain areas. Many types of unruly conduct may fit the definition of disorderly conduct, as such statutes are often used as "catch-all" crimes. Police may use a disorderly conduct charge to keep the peace when people are behaving in a disruptive manner, but otherwise present no danger.

An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur. Attempt to commit a particular crime is a crime, usually considered to be of the same or lesser gravity as the particular crime attempted. Attempt is a type of inchoate crime, a crime that is not fully developed. The crime of attempt has two elements, intent and some conduct toward completion of the crime.

In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but may or may not have actually occurred.

An accessory is a person who assists, but does not actually participate, in the commission of a crime. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree:

Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a proper authority.

Complicity is the participation in a completed criminal act of an accomplice, a partner in the crime who aids or encourages (abets) other perpetrators of that crime, and who shared with them an intent to act to complete the crime. A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of a crime if they purpose the completion of a crime, and toward that end, if that person solicits or encourages the other person, or aids or attempts to aid in planning or committing the crime, or has legal duty to prevent that crime but fails to make an effort to prevent it properly.

Under United States law, an element of a crime is one of a set of facts that must all be proven to convict a defendant of a crime. Before a court finds a defendant guilty of a criminal offense, the prosecution must present evidence that, even when opposed by any evidence the defense may choose, is credible and sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed each element of the particular crime charged. The component parts that make up any particular crime vary now depending on the crime.

In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder and, in a few states, third-degree murder, which in other states is divided into voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which are the least serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.

Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. state laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific basis in statute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal law of the United States</span>

Criminal law is a system of laws that is connected with crimes and punishments of an individual who commits crimes. In comparison, civil law is where the case argues their issues with one entity to another entity with support of the law. Crimes can vary in definition by jurisdiction but the basis for a crime are fairly consistent regardless.

In English criminal law, an inchoate offence is an offence relating to a criminal act which has not, or not yet, been committed. The main inchoate offences are attempting to commit; encouraging or assisting crime; and conspiring to commit. Attempts, governed by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, are defined as situations where an individual who intends to commit an offence does an act which is "more than merely preparatory" in the offence's commission. Traditionally this definition has caused problems, with no firm rule on what constitutes a "more than merely preparatory" act, but broad judicial statements give some guidance. Incitement, on the other hand, is an offence under the common law, and covers situations where an individual encourages another person to engage in activities which will result in a criminal act taking place, and intends for this act to occur. As a criminal activity, incitement had a particularly broad remit, covering "a suggestion, proposal, request, exhortation, gesture, argument, persuasion, inducement, goading or the arousal of cupidity". Incitement was abolished by the Serious Crime Act 2007, but continues in other offences and as the basis of the new offence of "encouraging or assisting" the commission of a crime.

Crime preparations are acts or actions performed by criminal offenders during any period of time before the actual crime is committed and range from mere intent to overt action.

Criminal responsibility in French criminal law is the obligation to answer for infractions committed and to suffer the punishment provided by the legislation that governs the infraction in question.

The Texas Penal Code is the principal criminal code of the U.S. state of Texas. It was originally enacted in 1856 and underwent substantial revision in 1973, with the passage of the Revised Penal Code, in large part based on the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code.

The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 is a New York criminal law passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, that created a new section of the New York Penal Code for terrorism-related crimes, Article 490. The bill was introduced in a special session of the New York State Legislature on September 17, 2001. It was passed by overwhelming majorities of both houses and signed into law by Governor George Pataki the same day.

References

  1. ↑ Larry K. Gaines, Roger LeRoy Miller (2006). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core. Thomson-Wadsworth Publishing.
  2. 1 2 See lists and chapters of texts at McCord and McCord, Infra, pp. 185-213, and Schmalleger, Infra, pp. 105-161, 404.
  3. ↑ See, e.g., "§ 110.00 Attempt to commit a crime. A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime when, with intent to commit a crime, he engages in conduct which tends to effect the commission of such crime." N.Y. Penal L. § 110.00. Found at New York State Assembly government web site. Retrieved on 2010-11-01 from http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLPEN+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=39445639+&TARGET=VIEW.
  4. ↑ See, e.g., "§ 105.00 Conspiracy in the sixth degree. A person is guilty of conspiracy in the sixth degree when, with intent that conduct constituting a crime be performed, he agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct. Conspiracy in the sixth degree is a class B misdemeanor." N.Y. Penal L. § 105.00. Found at New York State Assembly government web site. Retrieved on 2010-11-01 from http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLPEN+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=39445639+&TARGET=VIEW.
  5. ↑ See, e.g., "§ 100.00 Criminal solicitation in the fifth degree. A person is guilty of criminal solicitation in the fifth degree when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a crime, he solicits, requests, commands, importunes or otherwise attempts to cause such other person to engage in such conduct. Criminal solicitation in the fifth degree is a violation." N.Y. Penal L. § 100.00. Found at New York State Assembly government web site. Retrieved on 2010-11-01 from http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLPEN+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=39445639+&TARGET=VIEW.
  6. ↑ McCord, James W. H.; McCord, Sandra L. (2005-07-11). Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal: A Systems Approach. Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-1-4018-6564-1.
  7. ↑ James W.H. McCord and Sandra L. McCord, Criminal Law and Procedure for the paralegal: a systems approach, supra, p. 206, citing United States v. Anguilo (1st Cir. 1988).
  8. ↑ See, e.g., "§ 115.00 Criminal facilitation in the fourth degree. A person is guilty of criminal facilitation in the fourth degree when, believing it probable that he is rendering aid ...." N.Y. Penal L. § 115.00. Found at New York State Assembly government web site. Retrieved on 2010-11-01 from http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLPEN+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=39445639+&TARGET=VIEW.
  9. ↑ "Mens Rea". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  10. ↑ See People v. Murphy, 235 A.D. 933, 654 N.Y.S. 2d 187 (N.Y. 3d Dep't 1997).
  11. ↑ James W.H. McCord and Sandra L. McCord, Criminal Law and Procedure for the paralegal: a systems approach, supra, pp. 189-190, citing People v. Acosta, (N.Y. 1993) and Model Penal Code section 5.01(1)(c).
  12. ↑ Marcus, Paul (1977). "Conspiracy: The Criminal Agreement, in Theory and in Practice". The Georgetown Law Journal. 65: 925–969.
  13. ↑ "inchoate offense". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  14. ↑ Strahorn, John S. (1930). "The Effect of Impossibility on Criminal Attempts". University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register. 78 (8): 962–998. doi:10.2307/3307577. ISSN   0749-9833.
  15. ↑ See James Fitzjames Stephen, A History of the Criminal Law of England, Vol. II, 225 (1883)
  16. ↑ See Adolphe Chauveau, Faustin Hélie, Théorie du Code Pénal 382-3 (1843)
  17. ↑ James Stephen at 225.
  18. ↑ 66 L.T. (N.S) 300, and 24 Q.B.D. 357.
  19. ↑ "Model Penal Code". individual.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  20. ↑ Frank Schmalleger, Criminal Law Today: An Introduction with Capstone Cases, p. 110, (Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006) ISBN   0-13-170287-4, citing Joshua Dressler, Understanding Criminal Law, 2nd ed., (Boston:Matthew Bender, 1995), p. 351.
  21. 1 2 James W.H. McCord and Sandra L. McCord, Criminal Law and Procedure for the paralegal: a systems approach, supra, p. 127.
  22. ↑ See Schmalleger, Supra, p. 404.
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