Also known as: logically impossible · impossibility
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A situation in which the actor's intended conduct cannot logically satisfy the elements of the target offense even if completed exactly as planned. The required mental state for attempt cannot exist when the substantive crime lacks an intent element.
Leonard Lowe and Leo Lynch agreed to sell stolen art that had already been recovered by police. The agreement and shared intent to commit the unlawful act established the conspiracy even though the objective could never be reached.
Lamar Lewis prepared to commit reckless homicide by firing into a crowd without aiming at anyone. No attempt liability arose because the target offense lacks any intent element that could support the purposeful mental state required for attempt.
Lucas Lee offered money to Lila Lin to assault a target who had already left the city. The solicitation was complete because culpability is measured by the circumstances as Lucas believed them to be.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lola Langley prepared false documents and asked a witness to sign them under oath. No attempt occurred because materiality, an essential element of perjury, would have been missing even if the plan had succeeded.
Liberty Trust loaded a truck with what it believed were controlled substances for sale. The attempt charge stood because the inability to complete the sale due to an unknown factual condition did not negate the required intent.
Lumen Capital's employee fired shots into a crowd hoping to cause death through reckless conduct. The attempt charge was dismissed because the substantive offense of reckless homicide contains no intent element that could support an attempt.
No. The agreement and intent to commit the unlawful act remain sufficient even when external facts make the objective impossible to accomplish.
Legal impossibility is a defense when the completed conduct, exactly as planned, would not constitute a crime because an essential element of the substantive offense would be missing.
Reckless homicide requires no intent to kill. Attempt demands purposeful conduct aimed at causing the result, so the mental state for attempt cannot coexist with the recklessness element of the target offense.
Supporting sources
No. Culpability is measured by the circumstances as the solicitor believed them to be, so the impossibility of success supplies no defense.
Attempt liability is barred when the target offense contains no intent element because the purposeful mental state required for attempt cannot logically attach to a crime defined by recklessness or negligence.
…to adult persons in deciding how to conduct their private lives in matters pertaining to sex " (emphasis added)). The impossibility of distinguishing homosexuality from other traditional "morals" offenses is precisely why Bowers rejected the rational-basis challenge. "The law," it said, "is constantly based on notions…