MPC: Solicitation to commit crime v. solicitation to attempt Forum

[traehekat]

MPC Langugage

A person is guilty of solicitation to commit a crime if:

(1) the actor's purpose is to promote or facilitate the commission of a substantive offense; and
(2) with such purpose, he commands, encourages, or requests from another person to engage in conduct that would constitute the crime, [OR] an attempt to commit it, or would establish the other person's complicity in its commission or attempted commission

I understand that MPC is broader than common law for solicitation in that it includes some of these other things like attempt or complicity. My question is what factual situation would allow someone to be held liable for solicitation under "attempt to commit it" language that WOULDN'T be held liable under "engage in conduct that would constitute the crime" or under common law, which does not include this language about soliciting an attempt to commit a crime. It seems that if you solicit someone to COMMIT a crime, then you have to solicit them to ATTEMPT to commit it as well.

[Borhas]

how can you solicit an attempt?

An attempted X is a failure, or mistake, or some fuck up that prevented the completion of X.. would someone solicit another to aim a gun at and shoot at a supposed victim, but miss? If so, that wouldn't even be a solicitation of attempted murder, because as soon as your purpose is towards a goal (missing), than the goal is what you are attempting or soliciting....

Think of it this way: Could you have an attempted attempted murder? Does that concept even make sense? This starts making more sense w/ the understanding that mens rea for solicitation and attempt are Purposeful.

know what I mean?

[keg411]

For solicitation, once the request is communicated (MPC and CL differ on whether the communication needs to be received), the crime is complete. Whether the crime is ever attempted or committed is irrelevant.