(A) Unknown suspects had successfully robbed tellers at various banks in Metropo
ID: 3459696 • Letter: #
Question
(A) Unknown suspects had successfully robbed tellers at various banks in Metropolis and in order to catch the suspects, police officers set up surveillance at similar banks in the area. While doing so one afternoon, officers see and vehicle they believe to be casing several banks. They follow the vehicle and see the operator exit the vehicle and enter a store and while doing so, he clips a scanner onto his belt. The scanner later proved to be tuned to the frequency that would receive Metropolis uniform patrol transmissions. Shortly thereafter, the driver parked the vehicle at the rear of one of the banks. Just prior to doing so, he had driven past the front of the bank and briefly parked in the rear of it. He got out of the car and quickly walked beside the bank toward the front door. He was wearing a brown waist-length jacket while driving and when he walked toward the bank, he added a blue-knit stocking cap pulled down to the top of his sunglasses, white gloves and a black eyepatch. In addition, his collar was turned up. His right hand was in his pocket and his left hand was in front of his face and he was ducking his head. When he reached the bank, he had his left hand in his jacket and with his right hand attempted to open the door, but the bank had just closed and the door was locked. When he realized the bank was closed and he could not enter, he ran past the bank window with his left hand covering his face to his vehicle. Police stopped his shortly thereafter and recovered a loaded handgun, the cap, gloves and the sunglasses. He initially gave a false name and was then charged with Attempted Robbery.
(B) John Doe meets with Joe Smith and asks him if he knows April Jones and could locate her. Smith says he will try and find her. Doe and Smith meet several weeks later and Doe tells Smith that Jones owes him money and he intends to kidnap her and rape her as a result of her refusing to pay Doe the money owed to him. At that meeting, Doe lays out a plan to kidnap her and asks Smith to drive because Doe doesn’t have a car and Smith agrees to do so. Unbeknownst to Doe, Smith was actually an informant and reported Doe’s plans to the police. Doe and Smith had several additional conversations in which the plans were again discussed. Eventually, Doe advised Smith he had located Jones and she was working that night and the two agreed to kidnap her that evening. Doe and Smith agreed to meet at a restaurant and Smith notified the police who fitted him with a “body wire” to record the conversations. The two met at the restaurant and Doe advised that Jones was working as a “go-go” dancer at a club approximately ½ hour away. Smith suggested he could lure Jones out to his car by offering her some cocaine and Doe had with him a drug called “Rush”, a set of handcuffs made from rope, a rubber ball, and a pocket knife and told Smith that he would be ready in the back seat and would put the ball in her mouth and hurt her on the head. The two then left the restaurant and headed towards Smith’s car. As Doe was about to climb into the back seat, the police arrested him. (1) Your text discusses the defense of “Impossibility”. What specific type of impossibility defense could be applicable in the first scenario? Is it a valid defense in this case? Why or why not?
Explanation / Answer
The impossibility defense which could be applicable in the first robbery scenario is factual impossibility. Factual impossibility is that the defendant did not complete the crime and seeks to negate the actus reus.
It is not a valid defense in this case. This is because of two reasons- one, this defense is not permitted. Two, the robbery is done in other banks, it is just that, it did not happen in this bank.
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