criminal law · defense
Impossibility defense is a legal doctrine that relieves a defendant from liability when the completion of a criminal act is impossible due to some factual or legal barrier. It asserts that the defendant lacked the ability to commit the crime as intended, thus negating the requisite mens rea or actus reus.
Factual impossibility occurs when the defendant's intended act is impossible due to a physical or external circumstance.
What to prove: The defendant must show that despite their intent to commit the crime, an external factor prevented the act from being completed.
Legal impossibility exists when the acts the defendant intended to perform do not constitute a crime under the law, regardless of the circumstances.
What to prove: The defendant must demonstrate that the act they intended to commit was not legally defined as a crime, thus making prosecution inappropriate.
There must be a lack of concurrence between the defendant's intent to commit a crime and the act they committed.
What to prove: The prosecution must be unable to establish that the defendant's actions aligned with their criminal intent due to the impossibility.
The defendant bears the burden of proof to demonstrate the circumstances of impossibility by a preponderance of the evidence.
When preparing for exams, focus on analyzing fact patterns to determine if legal or factual impossibility applies and how it negates intent.