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Attempt Act

6 October, 2015 - 15:58

The criminal act element required for attempt varies, depending on the jurisdiction.

As stated, thoughts are nocriminal acts. Thus a defendant does not commit attempt by plotting or planning an offense. An extension of this rule dictates that mere preparation is not enough to constitute the attempt criminal act element. 1 However, the crux of any attempt case is hoclose to completing the offense the defendant must get to fulfill the attempt criminal act requirement. In many statutes and cases, the attempt act is loosely defined to allow the trier of fact the flexibility needed to separate true criminal attempt from noncriminal preparation.

Jurisdictions use four tests to ascertain whether the defendant has committed the attempt criminal act: proximity test, res ipsa loquitur test,probable desistance test, and the Model Penal Code’s substantial steps test.