Opinion ID: 849107
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: interpretation of the attempt statute

Text: Even if legal impossibility were not part of Michigan's common law, I would disagree with the majority's interpretation of the attempt statute. It does not follow from the fact that the statute does not expressly incorporate the concept of impossibility that the defense is inapplicable. Examination of the language of the attempt statute leads to a reasonable inference that the Legislature did not intend to punish conduct that a mistake of legal fact renders unprohibited. The attempt statute makes illegal an ... attempt to commit an offense prohibited by law .... M.C.L. § 750.92 (emphasis added). It does not make illegal an action not prohibited by law. Hence, one may conclude, the impossibility of completing the underlying crime can provide a defense to attempt. This reasoning is supported by the fact that the attempt statute codified the common-law rule regarding the elements of attempt. See People v. Youngs, 122 Mich. 292, 293, 81 N.W. 114 (1899); People v. Webb, 127 Mich. 29, 31-32, 86 N.W. 406 (1901). At common law, legal impossibility is a defense to attempt. United States v. Hsu, 155 F.3d 189, 199-200 (C.A.3, 1998); Dressler, Understanding Criminal Law (2d ed.), § 27.07[B], p. 369; 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, § 178, p. 254. Absent a statute expressly abrogating legal impossibility, this common-law rule continues to provide a viable defense. Bandfield v. Bandfield, 117 Mich. 80, 82, 75 N.W. 287 (1898), rev'd in part on other grounds Hosko v. Hosko, 385 Mich. 39, 187 N.W.2d 236 (1971). [5] This state's attempt statute, unlike the Model Penal Code and various state statutes that follow it, does not contain language allowing for consideration of a defendant's beliefs regarding attendant circumstances. Rather, it takes an objective view of criminality, focusing on whether the defendant actually came close to completing the prohibited act. 1 Robinson, Criminal Law Defenses, § 85(a), pp. 423-424; § 85(b), p. 426, n. 22. The impossibility of completing the offense is relevant to this objective approach because impossibility obviates the state's concern that the actor may cause or come close to causing the harm or evil that the offense seeks to prevent. Id. at 424, 187 N.W.2d 236. The majority's conclusion, that it is irrelevant whether it would be impossible to have committed the completed offense, contradicts the language used in the attempt statute. If an element of the offense cannot be established, an accused cannot be found guilty of the prohibited act. The underlying offense in this case, disseminating or exhibiting sexual material to a minor, requires a minor recipient. Because the dissemination was not to a minor, it is legally impossible for defendant to have committed the prohibited act. This Court should affirm the Court of Appeals decision, determining that it was legally impossible for defendant to have committed the charged offense of attempted distribution of obscene material to a minor, M.C.L. § 750.92, 722.675.