Chapter 8

Front 1

attempt actus reus

Back 1

steps taken to complete a crime that’s never completed.

Front 2

attempt mens rea

Back 2

specific intent to commit a crime that’s never completed.

Front 3

chain conspiracies

Back 3

participants at one end of the chain may know nothing of those at the other end, but every participant handles the same commodity at different points, such as manufacture, distribution, and sale.

Front 4

conspiracy

Back 4

agreeing to commit a crime.

Front 5

conspiracy actus reus

Back 5

consists of two parts: (1) an agreement to commit a crime (in all states) and (2) an overt act in furtherance of the agreement (in about half the states).

Front 6

conspiracy mens rea

Back 6

specific intent to commit a crime or specific intent to commit a legal act by illegal means.

Front 7

criminal attempt

Back 7

intending to commit a crime and taking steps to complete it but something interrupts the completion of the crime’s commission.

Front 8

criminal conspiracy

Back 8

agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime.

Front 9

criminal objective

Back 9

the criminal goal of an agreement to commit a crime.

Front 10

criminal solicitation

Back 10

urging another person to commit a crime, even though the person doesn’t respond to the urging.

Front 11

dangerous act rationale (in attempt law)

Back 11

looking at how closely a defendant came to completing a crime.

Front 12

dangerous person rationale (in attempt law)

Back 12

looking at how fully a defendant developed a criminal purpose to commit a crime.

Front 13

dangerous proximity test to success test/physical proximity test

Back 13

looking at the seriousness of the offense intended; the closeness to completion of the crime; and the probability the conduct would actually have resulted in completion of the crime.

Front 14

defense of voluntary abandonment

Back 14

the actor voluntarily and completely gives up his criminal purpose before completing the offense.

Front 15

extraneous factor

Back 15

a condition beyond the attempter’s control.

Front 16

factual impossibility

Back 16

the defense that some extraneous factor made it impossible to complete a crime.

Front 17

general attempt statute

Back 17

statute that defines the elements of attempt that apply to all crimes.

Front 18

inchoate offenses

Back 18

offenses based on crimes not yet completed.

Front 19

indispensable element test (attempt law)

Back 19

asks whether defendants have gotten control of everything they need to complete the crime.

Front 20

last proximate act rule

Back 20

your acts brought you as close as possible to completing the crime.

Front 21

legal impossibility

Back 21

the defense that what the actor attempted was not a “crime.”

Front 22

offenses of general application

Back 22

describes the inchoate crimes, which are partly general and partly specific.

Front 23

overt act (in conspiracy)

Back 23

requirement of conspiracy actus reus of some act toward completing the crime in addition to the agreement.

Front 24

preparation offenses

Back 24

acts amounting to just getting ready to commit a crime (attempt law).

Front 25

principle of legality

Back 25

a principle stating that there can be no crime or punishment if there are no specific laws forewarning citizens that certain specific conduct will result in a particular punishment.

Front 26

probable desistance test

Back 26

a dangerous person test that focuses on how far defendants have gone, not on what’s left for them to do to complete the crime.

Front 27

proximity tests

Back 27

tests of dangerous conduct: physical proximity, dangerous proximity, and indispensable element.

Front 28

solicitation

Back 28

trying to get someone to commit a crime.

Front 29

solicitation actus reus

Back 29

urging another person to commit a crime.

Front 30

solicitation mens rea

Back 30

intent to get another person to commit a crime.

Front 31

specific attempt statuses

Back 31

attempt statutes that define the elements of attempting to commit specific crimes.

Front 32

substantial steps test (in attempt actus reus)

Back 32

in the Model Penal Code, substantial acts toward completion of a crime that strongly corroborate the actor’s intent to commit the crime.

Front 33

unequivocality test/res ipsa loquiter test (“act speaks for itself”)

Back 33

examines the likelihood the defendant won’t complete the crime (attempt law).

Front 34

unilateral approach (in conspiracy)

Back 34

not all the conspirators need to agree to commit a crime to impose criminal liability (conspiracy actus reus).

Front 35

wheel conspiracies

Back 35

one or more defendants participate in every transaction.