How Do You Prove An Attempted Crime In California?
If you're charged with an attempted crime in California, you may be trying to figure out exactly what evidence the government needs in order to prove the case against you. Attempting to commit a crime is taking a substantial step towards its commission, with obviously the intent to commit the crime but then falling short for some reason or another of actually committing the crime.
So, that would be an attempt at the crime versus the crime itself. Often, the punishment for attempted crimes is half of what the normal crime would be if it were completed. But, make no doubt about it – an attempted crime is just as serious, especially if it's a felony – as the crime itself.
For example, any strike that is an attempted crime is still a strike. So, for example, if you try to do a robbery but
You fall short, and they convict you of attempted robbery. You're going to have a strike on your record.
You can also be sent to prison for an attempted crime. It's a full-fledged felony if it's charged as a felony and you're convicted of it, either by way of a jury trial or through some plea agreement.
Substantial Step Towards Committing a Crime
The issue in these attempted crimes in Los Angeles courts boils down to whether or not you took a substantial step towards the commission of some target crime. For example, let's say that you're accused of attempted burglary. The question is going to be – did you take some steps towards burglarizing someone's home business or car, for example?
The way they're going to prove that is by circumstantial evidence. In other words, if you're outside somebody's house, it's at night, you have a mask on, you have no reason to be there, you have burglary tools in your possession, you're heading in there to attempt to break into the house, and somehow things are foiled.
You have a sack around your waist ready to hold all the loot and everything, but you don't actually break the plane of any doors outside the house—that's not going to be a burglary. However, they would certainly have an argument that you were attempting to burglarize the house based on the circumstantial evidence of you having all that stuff—being there when you weren't supposed to. Why would you have to mask your face?
There are several different factors that I just laid out that would be good evidence that you were going to burglarize the house. They could then charge you with attempted burglary and make the argument you took a substantial step toward burglarizing the home. It can be challenging to cut and dry.
Sometimes, people do things that normally would be innocent conduct, but somehow, the police catch them, charge them with the crime, and claim that they were attempting to do something that they really weren't trying to do criminally.
Criminal Lawyer Review of the Evidence
That's when you're going to need an attorney if you feel like you're innocent and feel that you are being improperly accused of some attempted crime in Los Angeles. Get in front of a criminal defense attorney. I have you come in. We sit down and go over the evidence, and we talk about what the prosecutors will need in a jury trial to prove an attempted crime, where the problems lie for them, and where the issues lie for you.
The reason you evaluate it – in an attempted crime or any crime – by going fast-forward ahead to a jury trial is because, ultimately, if you don't take a deal. The prosecutors don't dismiss the case; the next step will be a jury trial.
That's how we settle things in our criminal justice system in Los Angeles and nationwide. So, if you say I didn't attempt to do anything. I had no intent to commit this crime. Intent is another big issue in these attempt cases. Did you intend to commit the crime? Do they have the evidence? Do they have the circumstantial evidence?
It gets a bit complicated and confusing because they need help understanding the concept of circumstantial evidence related to attempt-related crimes in Los Angeles.
Circumstantial Evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that if you look at it, you say, why would he do that? Why would he have this? Why would he have gone here? And then, you start to put the pieces of the puzzle together. First, the prosecutors or police in Los Angeles need some premise. In other words, what are they claiming you're trying to do?
Once they have that, they need the evidence that shows that you were attempting to do that. They put that evidence on. A jury would ultimately listen to it. The defense would certainly be entitled to challenge the evidence, cross-examine it, and present their evidence.
The defendant could testify, and then the jury can decide whether there was an attempted crime or whether the prosecutors simply have not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
