Also known as: substantial steps · substantial-step test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Conduct that is strongly corroborative of the actor's criminal purpose. The conduct must advance a course of conduct planned to culminate in the commission of the crime under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be.
Serena Soto obtained a stolen laptop loaded with remote access tools and login credentials. She drove to Apex Storage's campus and circled the parking lot searching for an unsecured entrance to connect to the network. Officers arrested her before she left the car. Her actions of gathering specialized equipment and scouting the site constituted a substantial step strongly corroborative of intent to steal data.
Samuel Soto purchased gasoline and rags, drove to the alley behind the vacant duplex, and parked directly behind the building. Officers stopped him before he exited the car or approached the structure. Under the proximity test his conduct remained too remote from actually igniting the fire to qualify as an attempt.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Santiago Sanchez mixed a restricted pesticide into grain and poured it into a portable water tank. He adjusted an automated feeder timer to release the mixture after his departure and carried the bucket toward the cattle pen. A supervisor stopped him just outside the pen. The combination of mixing, timing, and carrying the agent met the substantial-step requirement.
Sierra Santos purchased a gun, practiced at a range, and lured her intended victim to a remote location under a false pretext. She positioned herself with the loaded weapon before officers intervened. The sequence of acquiring the weapon, training, and positioning the victim satisfied the substantial-step test.
Sabrina Shah arranged an online meeting with a person she believed to be a twelve-year-old boy and traveled to the agreed location carrying items for the planned encounter. Police arrested her upon arrival before any physical contact occurred. Traveling to the site with the necessary items after online solicitation constituted a substantial step.
Sasha Stone created fictitious documents and digital files depicting a minor and arranged equipment to produce pornography. Officers seized the materials before any recording took place. The preparation and assembly of the materials and equipment amounted to a substantial step toward the completed offense.
The prosecution must show that the defendant's conduct was strongly corroborative of criminal purpose and advanced a course of conduct planned to culminate in the crime. Conduct that is merely preparatory or equivocal does not suffice.
Supporting sources
The substantial-step test focuses on whether the actor's conduct strongly corroborates criminal purpose rather than on how close the conduct came to completing the offense. The proximity test requires the conduct to come dangerously close to success with only minor steps remaining.
Supporting sources
Yes. The Model Penal Code expressly lists lying in wait, searching for, or following the contemplated victim as conduct that, if strongly corroborative of purpose, shall not be held insufficient as a matter of law.
Supporting sources
Yes. Under the substantial-step test, factual impossibility is not a defense when the actor's conduct would constitute the crime if the circumstances were as the actor believed them to be.
Supporting sources
A few states require that at least one conspirator take a substantial step in furtherance of the agreement, applying the same meaning used in attempt—an act that strongly corroborates the actor's criminal purpose.
Supporting sources
…Lee "(1) had the specific intent or mens rea to commit the underlying charged crimes, and (2) took actions that constituted a substantial step toward the commission of [each] crime." Yost , 479 F.3d at 819 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). We have explained that a defendant takes a substantial step…