Inchoate Crimes

Hey students! 👋 Today we're diving into one of the most fascinating areas of criminal law: inchoate crimes. These are crimes that are "incomplete" or "just begun" - think of them as criminal law's way of saying "we're going to stop you before you actually commit that serious crime!" By the end of this lesson, you'll understand the three main types of inchoate crimes (attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation), how courts determine when someone has crossed the line from just thinking about a crime to actually attempting it, and the defenses available to defendants. This knowledge is crucial for understanding how our legal system prevents crimes before they happen! ⚖️

Understanding Inchoate Crimes: The Basics

Inchoate crimes are essentially "incomplete" crimes - offenses that punish people for conduct that shows they intended to commit a more serious crime, even if they never actually completed it. The word "inchoate" comes from Latin meaning "just begun" or "in the early stages." 🌱

Think of it this way, students: imagine your friend tells you they're planning to rob a bank, then they buy masks and weapons, scout the location, and drive to the bank with their tools. Even if they never actually enter the bank or steal any money, the law recognizes that their actions show a serious intent to commit robbery. This is where inchoate crimes come into play!

The three main inchoate crimes are:

1. Attempt - trying to commit a crime but failing to complete it
2. Conspiracy - agreeing with others to commit a crime
3. Solicitation - asking or encouraging someone else to commit a crime

These crimes serve an important purpose in our legal system: prevention and deterrence. Rather than waiting for someone to actually commit murder, robbery, or fraud, the law allows prosecutors to step in earlier when there's clear evidence of criminal intent combined with some action toward completing the crime.

Attempt: When "Trying" Becomes Criminal

Attempt is probably the inchoate crime you're most familiar with, students. We often hear about "attempted murder" or "attempted robbery" in the news. But what exactly makes an attempt criminal? 🤔

For attempt, prosecutors must prove two key elements:

1. Specific intent to commit the target crime
2. A substantial step toward completing that crime

The tricky part is determining what constitutes a "substantial step." Courts use various tests to figure this out. The proximity test asks how close the defendant came to actually completing the crime. For example, if someone plans to poison their neighbor, buying the poison might not be enough - but putting it in the neighbor's coffee probably would be.

The Model Penal Code (MPC), which many states follow, uses a different approach. It requires conduct that is "strongly corroborative" of the defendant's criminal purpose. This means the action must clearly show criminal intent, not just preparation.

Here's a real-world example: In 2019, a man in California was convicted of attempted murder after he fired several shots at his ex-girlfriend's house while she was inside. Even though she wasn't injured, his actions clearly showed intent to kill and went far beyond mere preparation.

Completeness tests help courts determine when preparation becomes attempt:

• Last act test: The defendant must have done everything they believed necessary to commit the crime
• Physical proximity test: The defendant must be physically close to completing the crime
• Dangerous proximity test: The defendant's actions must create a dangerous likelihood of success

Conspiracy: When Planning Becomes Criminal

Conspiracy is often called the "prosecutor's darling" because it's relatively easy to prove and carries serious penalties. At its core, conspiracy occurs when two or more people agree to commit a crime. 👥

The elements of conspiracy are:

1. Agreement between two or more people
2. Intent to commit the target crime
3. In most jurisdictions, an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy

What makes conspiracy particularly powerful is that conspirators can be held liable for crimes committed by their co-conspirators, even if they didn't directly participate. This is called the Pinkerton doctrine, named after a Supreme Court case.

Consider this example: Three friends agree to rob a convenience store. One person scouts the location, another buys masks, and the third gets a getaway car. Even before they attempt the robbery, all three could be charged with conspiracy. If during the robbery, one of them unexpectedly shoots the clerk, all three could potentially face murder charges under conspiracy law.

The Model Penal Code approach to conspiracy requires that the agreement be made with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime. It also limits liability for crimes committed by co-conspirators unless they were reasonably foreseeable consequences of the original agreement.

Solicitation: When Asking Becomes Criminal

Solicitation occurs when someone asks, encourages, or commands another person to commit a crime. You might think of it as "criminal recruiting." 📢

The key elements are:

1. Intent that another person commit a crime
2. Communication of that request or encouragement

Importantly, the person being solicited doesn't have to agree or take any action. The crime is complete when the solicitation is made. For example, if students asks their friend to help them cheat on a test by hacking into the school's computer system, that could be solicitation of computer fraud, even if the friend refuses.

Under the Model Penal Code, solicitation merges with attempt if the person solicited actually attempts the crime. This prevents double punishment for the same conduct.

A famous case involved a man who solicited an undercover police officer to kill his wife. Even though the "hitman" was actually a cop and no murder was ever going to occur, the man was still guilty of solicitation of murder.

Abandonment Defenses: Can You Change Your Mind?

One of the most interesting aspects of inchoate crimes is the abandonment defense - the idea that someone who voluntarily gives up their criminal plan shouldn't be punished. However, this defense has strict requirements! 🚪

For attempt, most jurisdictions don't recognize abandonment as a complete defense. The reasoning is that once you've taken a substantial step toward committing a crime, the harm to society has already occurred.

For conspiracy, the Model Penal Code allows an abandonment defense if the defendant:

1. Voluntarily renounces their criminal purpose
2. Makes a substantial effort to prevent the commission of the crime
3. Acts before the conspiracy is discovered by authorities

For solicitation, abandonment might be available if the defendant completely renounces their criminal purpose and successfully prevents the solicited crime.

The key word here is "voluntary." If someone abandons their criminal plan only because they're afraid of getting caught or because the plan becomes too difficult, that's not considered voluntary abandonment.

Model Penal Code Comparisons

The Model Penal Code, developed by the American Law Institute, has significantly influenced how states handle inchoate crimes. Here are some key differences from traditional common law approaches:

Grading: The MPC generally punishes inchoate crimes at the same level as the completed crime, while traditional law often punished them less severely.

Merger: Under the MPC, if someone completes the target crime, the inchoate offense "merges" and they're only punished for the completed crime.

Impossibility: The MPC eliminates the defense of legal impossibility for attempt crimes, focusing instead on what the defendant believed they were doing.

Conclusion

Inchoate crimes represent criminal law's proactive approach to preventing harm before it occurs. Through attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation doctrines, the legal system can intervene when someone shows clear criminal intent combined with concrete steps toward committing a crime. The various completeness tests help courts distinguish between mere preparation and criminal attempt, while abandonment defenses provide a narrow escape route for those who genuinely renounce their criminal purposes. Understanding these concepts helps us appreciate how the law balances the need to prevent crime with the principle that people shouldn't be punished merely for their thoughts or preliminary preparations.

Study Notes

• Inchoate crimes are incomplete or preliminary crimes that punish conduct showing intent to commit more serious offenses

• Three main inchoate crimes: attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation

• Attempt elements: specific intent + substantial step toward completing the target crime

• Conspiracy elements: agreement between 2+ people + intent + overt act (in most jurisdictions)

• Solicitation elements: intent that another commit a crime + communication of that request

• Completeness tests for attempt: proximity test, last act test, physical proximity test, dangerous proximity test

• Model Penal Code uses "strongly corroborative" standard for attempt rather than proximity tests

• Pinkerton doctrine: conspirators liable for crimes of co-conspirators in furtherance of conspiracy

• Abandonment defense: generally not available for attempt; may be available for conspiracy and solicitation if voluntary and complete renunciation occurs

• MPC merger rule: inchoate crimes merge with completed target crimes to prevent double punishment

• Impossibility: MPC eliminates legal impossibility defense for attempt crimes

• Grading: MPC punishes inchoate crimes at same level as completed crimes in most cases