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2018 Georgia Code 16-4-4 | Car Wreck Lawyer

TITLE 16 CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Section 4. Criminal Attempt, Conspiracy, and Solicitation, 16-4-1 through 16-4-10.

ARTICLE 3 ALIBI

16-4-4. Impossibility as a defense.

It is no defense to a charge of criminal attempt that the crime the accused is charged with attempting was, under the attendant circumstances, factually or legally impossible of commission if such crime could have been committed had the attendant circumstances been as the accused believed them to be.

(Code 1933, § 26-1002, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1.)

Law reviews.

- For article, "A Comprehensive Analysis of Georgia RICO," see 9 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 537 (1993).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Predicate act sufficiently set forth in indictment.

- Indictment clearly specified the predicate acts alleged against the defendants by count one specifying that the pattern of racketeering activity was unlawfully obtaining oxycodone, and it incorporated as predicate acts the remaining counts of the indictment charging the defendants with unlawfully obtaining oxycodone. Kimbrough v. State, 336 Ga. App. 381, 785 S.E.2d 54 (2016).

Trafficking imitation cocaine.

- The fact that the defendant attempted to traffic imitation cocaine does not relieve defendant of culpability absent evidence that defendant knew the substance was not cocaine. Durfee v. State, 221 Ga. App. 211, 471 S.E.2d 32 (1996).

Aggravated assault with intent to rape.

- Defendant's belief that the victim was a female and defendant's actions taken towards the victim were sufficient to establish defendant's intent to rape; fact that the victim turned out to be a male rendering an actual rape impossible did not affect defendant's culpability. Gordon v. State, 252 Ga. App. 133, 555 S.E.2d 793 (2001).

Participation and relationship sufficiently set forth in indictment.

- Indictment, when read as a whole, was sufficient to withstand the special demurrer on the grounds that it did not sufficiently allege the manner in which the defendants participated in the enterprise and the enterprise's relationship to the alleged racketeering activity because it specified in the counts alleging predicate acts the acts that amounted to the defendants' participation in the enterprise. Kimbrough v. State, 336 Ga. App. 381, 785 S.E.2d 54 (2016).

Evidence sufficient to satisfy defense.

- Defendant's actual inability to complete drug purchase because defendant had no money with the defendant falls within the definition of impossibility set forth in O.C.G.A. § 16-4-4. Guzman v. State, 206 Ga. App. 170, 424 S.E.2d 849 (1992).

Defense not supported by the evidence.

- Evidence that a defendant gave a detective checks for $7,000 to kill the defendant's uncle and described the defendant's uncle's location was sufficient to support the defendant's convictions for criminal attempt to commit murder and solicitation of murder. Impossibility was not a defense, although the uncle was through airport security and there were no funds in the defendant's account, because the defendant believed that the hit could take place and that the checks would persuade the supposed hit man to commit the murder. Rana v. State, 304 Ga. App. 750, 697 S.E.2d 867, cert. denied, No. S10C1764, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 922 (Ga.); cert. denied, U.S. , 131 S. Ct. 156, 178 L. Ed. 2d 93 (2010).

Cited in Williams v. State, 123 Ga. App. 9, 179 S.E.2d 351 (1970); Riddle v. State, 145 Ga. App. 328, 243 S.E.2d 607 (1978); Hibbert v. State, 146 Ga. App. 887, 247 S.E.2d 554 (1978); Logan v. State, 309 Ga. App. 95, 709 S.E.2d 302 (2011).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, § 156.

ALR.

- Criminal responsibility of one co-operating in offense which he is incapable of committing personally, 74 A.L.R. 1110; 131 A.L.R. 1322.

Attempts to receive stolen property, 85 A.L.R.2d 259.

What constitutes attempted murder, 54 A.L.R.3d 612.

Construction and application of state statute governing impossibility of consummation as defense to prosecution for attempt to commit crime, 41 A.L.R.4th 588.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 16-4-4

Total Results: 4  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Clark v. Sec. Life Ins. Co. of Am., 509 S.E.2d 602 (Ga. 1998).

Cited 29 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 26, 1998 | 270 Ga. 165

...[11] OCGA § 16-2-22(a)(2). A corporation may also face prosecution under OCGA § 16-2-22(a)(1) for a crime if the statute defining the crime clearly indicates a legislative purpose to impose liability on a corporation. RICO, however, is not such a statute because OCGA § 16-4-4 prohibits only "persons" from engaging in racketeering activity....
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Perkins v. State, 588 S.E.2d 719 (Ga. 2003).

Cited 16 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 10, 2003 | 277 Ga. 323, 2003 Fulton County D. Rep. 3326

...State, 272 Ga. 81, 82, 526 S.E.2d 60 (2000). Perkins cannot be prosecuted for violating OCGA § 17-6-58(a) if it was impossible for him to conform his conduct to its requirements by registering himself directly with the sheriff of Fulton County. See OCGA § 16-4-4; Guzman v....
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Williams Gen. Corp. v. Stone, 632 S.E.2d 376 (Ga. 2006).

Cited 12 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 12, 2006 | 280 Ga. 631, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 1837

...guage contained in footnote (11) of Clark v. Security Life Insurance Co., 270 Ga. 165(2), (n.11), 509 S.E.2d 602 (1998) that: A corporation may also face prosecution under OCGA § 16-2-22(a)(1) . . . RICO, however, is not such a statute because OCGA § 16-4-4[sic] prohibits only "persons" from engaging in racketeering activity....
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Rayton v. State, 875 S.E.2d 708 (Ga. 2022).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 22, 2022 | 314 Ga. 29

...See Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, Vol. II: Criminal Cases, § 3.10.10 (4th ed., 2022). 18 Ladson. Rayton argues that “[a]ttempt requires a subjective belief that a crime is factually possible,” citing to OCGA § 16-4-4, which provides that it is no defense to a charge of a criminal attempt that the crime was impossible under the attendant circumstances if the crime would have been possible under circumstances “as the accused believed them to be.”4 Based on this reading of OCGA § 16-4-4, Rayton contends that “any ‘attempt’ to purchase crack-cocaine ended as a matter of law ....
...The jury was not required, however, to believe Rayton’s testimony that he did not attempt to buy drugs from Ladson. The evidence, including Rayton’s own testimony, showed that he went to Elmwood Road to buy cocaine and that he 4 In full, OCGA § 16-4-4 provides: It is no defense to a charge of criminal attempt that the crime the accused is charged with attempting was, under the attendant circumstances, factually or legally impossible of commission if such crime...
...ty. Cf. Guzman v. State, 206 Ga. App. 170, 172 (2) (424 SE2d 849) (1992) (holding that the appellant’s actual inability to complete a drug purchase because she had no money with her fell within the definition of impossibility set forth in OCGA § 16-4-4). Accordingly, the evidence warranted the court’s charge that a person is not justified in using force if the person is attempting to commit a felony and that attempting to purchase cocaine is a felony under Georgia law; the pro...