Also known as: dangerous-proximity · dangerous proximity test · proximity test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A standard for criminal attempt liability. Conduct satisfies the standard when it advances so near to completing the target offense that the crime would occur but for interruption.
A standard for criminal attempt liability. Conduct satisfies the standard when it advances so near to completing the target offense that the crime would occur but for interruption.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A knowledge threshold for premises liability. A landowner has reason to know of trespassers when they are close enough to an artificial condition that poses a risk of death or serious bodily harm.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A knowledge threshold for premises liability. A landowner has reason to know of trespassers when they are close enough to an artificial condition that poses a risk of death or serious bodily harm.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Dorothy Daniels filled a syringe with a lethal insulin overdose and entered the patient's room. She pulled back the blanket and moved the needle toward the patient's arm before another nurse stopped her. The conduct reached dangerous proximity because only the final insertion and plunger movement remained.
Deanna Davenport wrote a destructive script, logged into the live production system, and loaded the script on a terminal. She positioned her finger over the enter key before security intervened. The acts came dangerously close to completing the data destruction.
Damian Decker drove to the victim's house, entered the room, and pointed a loaded gun directly at the victim before police arrived. The overt act placed the conduct in dangerous proximity to the completed homicide.
Destiny Davis paid an undercover officer to murder a target and arranged the details over drinks. No further steps toward the killing occurred. The conduct remained outside dangerous proximity because it never advanced to acts of perpetration.
Dangerous proximity requires that the defendant's overt act stand so near completion that the crime would occur but for interruption. Acts such as purchasing bullets or traveling to the scene remain preparation. Pointing a loaded gun at the victim satisfies the test.
Supporting sources
No. Liability attaches once conduct reaches dangerous proximity even if intervention prevents completion. The remaining step must be minimal and the result highly probable absent interruption.
Supporting sources
The defendants had traveled to the area and searched for the victim but never located him. Substantial steps remained undone, so the acts never reached dangerous proximity to the completed robbery.
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Darius Dixon climbed a chain-link fence at night to photograph equipment inside a high-voltage substation. Mountain Solar had discovered two other teens inside the fence three months earlier. The company therefore had reason to know of trespassers in dangerous proximity to the energized transformers.
Diana Delgado knew migrant workers regularly crossed her barn at night. She maintained an operating grain auger beneath loose floorboards that concealed the blades. The workers were therefore in dangerous proximity to the concealed machinery.
Prior documented intrusions combined with visible hazards and community reputation can establish constructive knowledge. The possessor need not know the specific individual will enter on a particular night.
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The possessor must be in immediate control of the force and have reason to know trespassers are in dangerous proximity to it. Liability follows from failure to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm or to warn.
Supporting sources
…that the act amounts to an attempt when it is so near to the result that the danger of success is very great: "There must be dangerous proximity to success." Halsbury states: "An act, in order to be a criminal attempt, must be immediately, and not remotely, connected with and directly tending to the commission of an offence."…