The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 9: At Least You Tried
Attempt pg 25: Summary
And that’s it for the concept of ATTEMPT.
Attempt must be intentional, it can’t be inherently impossible, and different jurisdictions draw the line in different places (but those that draw the line sooner also provide the chance to abandon the attempt).
Now go thank your lucky stars that you’re still breathing, and we’ll see you here next time when we start talking about accomplices and conspiracies in
Part 9: “We’ll All Go Down Together”
[SUGGESTED EDIT: Learn to count]
You can read this entire chapter in its original single-page scroll on the comic’s old Tumblr site here.
Shouldn’t this read Part 10 instead of Part 9? The next page says Part 10!
Yup. This was part 9 just now. I must have been dozing off when I wrote that (I work on this stuff mostly after the wife and kids are asleep).
Actually my local jurisdiction draws the line later, but still allows abandonment. A classic case is of the man who shot another, regreted it afterwards and called an ambulance. If the man who was shot lives, the first man won’t be charged with attempted murder. He will be charged due to the according physical injury though.
I suppose it helps that a definite action was taken to not just stop attempting the crime, but attempting to undo the damages of the crime.
*stubs out cigarette, throws away empty bottle of bourbon, closes blinds.*