The physical proximity doctrine is a standard in
criminal law for distinguishing between
preparation and attempt Preparation and attempt are related, but different standards in criminal law.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, /ref>
An attempt to commit an unconsumm ...
.
[''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, ]Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a m ...
; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder,
/ref> "Physical" refers to the physical element of a criminal act ( actus reus), as distinguished from the mental element of a guilty mind ( mens rea). When a person makes preparation to commit a crime, and one of the preparatory acts is close or proximate to the completed crime, the preparation is considered to have merged into being an actual attempt.[ The standard is not a clear bright line standard.][ The closer the preparatory act is to the completed crime, the stronger the case for calling it an attempt.][ The determination as to whether the standard has been met is a matter for the ]jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England du ...
to determine.
References
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Legal doctrines and principles
Criminal law legal terminology
Criminal law