The probable desistance test is a standard for distinguishing between
preparation and attempt in a
criminal case
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
.
[''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, ]Robert Weisberg
Robert I. Weisberg is an American lawyer. He is an Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, and an expert on criminal law and criminal procedure, as well as a leading scholar in the law and literature movement.
Weisberg wa ...
, Guyora Binder,
/ref> Under this standard, a person is guilty of attempt if they intended to commit a crime and acted in such a way that the offense would have been committed, but for intervention by some external factor not in the control of the defendant, such as being stopped by law enforcement.
In '' United States v. Mandujano'' (1974) the court wrote that under the probable desistance test, "the conduct constitutes an attempt if, in the ordinary and natural course of events, without interruption from an outside source, it will result in the crime intended".[
]
References
{{reflist
Legal procedure