§ 19.01   Overview to Inchoate Conduct

 

Activity that occurs after the formation of the mens rea but short of attainment of the criminal goal is described as "inchoate" – imperfect or incomplete – conduct. The most common of these offenses are attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy.  Inchoate crimes are typically treated as a lesser offense than the substantive crime.

 

§ 19.02   Model Penal Code

 

[A]  Punishment – In a significant departure from common law tradition, the Code provides for punishment of the inchoate offenses at the same level as the substantive crime, with the exception of crimes that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment ("felonies of the first degree"). [MPC § 5.05(1)]  An attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit one of these crimes constitutes a felony of the second degree. [MPC § 5.05(1)]

 

[B]  Special Mitigation – The Code grants the trial judge authority to dismiss a prosecution of an inchoate offense, or to impose a sentence for a crime of a lower degree than is otherwise allowed, if the defendant’s conduct was so inherently unlikely to result in a crime that neither he nor his conduct represents a danger to society justifying his conviction and punishment at ordinary level. [MPC § 5.05(2)]