Also known as: surrounding circumstances · attendant circumstances
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A factual condition accompanying conduct or a result that constitutes a material element of an offense or other legal determination. The condition bears on culpability, privilege, or intent when the actor's mental state is assessed with respect to its existence or believed existence.
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Sophia Singh loaded a van with crates she believed contained stolen electronics. She knew the crates were marked with the owner's name and that the warehouse was closed for the night. Under the statute, her awareness that the crates belonged to another satisfied the mental state for the attendant circumstance of ownership.
Scott Summers attempted to pick the lock on a safe he thought held cash. The safe was empty because the owner had removed the money earlier that day. The surrounding circumstance of the safe's emptiness did not provide a defense because Summers believed it contained valuables.
Sarah Sullivan struck an intruder once with a wooden board. She knew the intruder was frail and elderly from prior encounters. The surrounding circumstance of the intruder's physical condition made the single blow likely to cause serious harm even though the same force would not have done so against a stronger person.
Stella Shapiro entered a restricted airfield after seeing posted signs and security barriers. She understood the signs prohibited entry without authorization. Her awareness that the airfield was restricted satisfied the mental state for the attendant circumstance of the location's protected status.
Solomon Silver mixed a substance he believed was a deadly poison into a water tank. He set a timer to release the mixture into a cattle pen after he left the property. The surrounding circumstance he believed existed would have completed the crime of poisoning livestock even though the substance was harmless.
Selena Singh removed metal casings from an abandoned military site. She knew the site was government property and made no inquiry about ownership or permission. The surrounding circumstances of the location and her failure to seek permission supported an inference that she acted with wrongful intent.
A person acts purposely with respect to an attendant circumstance when the person is aware of its existence or believes or hopes that it exists. This mental state requirement applies when the circumstance is a material element of the offense.
A mistake about attendant circumstances does not supply a defense when the defendant's belief, if true, would have made the completed conduct a crime. Factual impossibility arising from such a mistake is not a defense.
…The Supreme Court's Construction of the Self-Incrimination Clause, 29 Mich. L. Rev. 1, 2. And there is very little in the surrounding circumstances of the adoption of the Fifth Amendment or in the provisions of the then existing state constitutions or in state practice which would give the constitutional provision any broader meaning.…
…claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. In Cronic, the Court considers such claims in the context of cases "in which the surrounding circumstances [make] it so unlikely that any lawyer could provide effective assistance that ineffectiveness [is] properly presumed without inquiry into actual performance at trial," at 661, 104 S.Ct., at…
…the jury must determine, not only from the act of taking, but from that together with defendant’s testimony and all of the surrounding circumstances
…and who refuses to identify himself and to account for his presence when requested by any peace officer so to do, if the surrounding circumstances are such as to indicate to a reasonable man that the public safety demands such identification." The California courts have interpreted the statute to require that a person detained…
…crime. Factual or legal impossibility of committing the crime is not a defense if the crime could have been committed had the attendant circumstances
The physical condition of the person against whom force is used is a surrounding circumstance that determines whether the force is likely to cause serious bodily harm. A slight blow that would be trivial to a normal person may be fatal to a frail individual and therefore privileged only if reasonable under the known circumstances.
A person acts knowingly with respect to an attendant circumstance when the person is aware that the circumstance exists. This standard applies when the circumstance is a material element involving the nature of the conduct or the attendant circumstances.
A person is guilty of attempt when the person purposely engages in conduct that would constitute the crime if the attendant circumstances were as the person believes them to be. The focus is on the defendant's subjective belief about the circumstances rather than their actual existence.