People v. Rizzo, 158 N.E. 888 (N.Y. 1927)

  • Facts: ∆ and three confederates drove around New York looking for Charles Rao, a payroll clerk they intended to rob. They never located him. Police, who had been tipped off, arrested them mid-search. ∆ convicted of first-degree attempted armed robbery.
  • Issue: Whether ∆'s acts—looking for the intended victim, never finding him, never reaching the point of accosting—constituted an attempt.
  • Rule: An attempt requires acts that are in dangerous proximity to success. Acts merely tending toward the crime, without coming "very near" to its accomplishment, are too remote.
  • Analysis: ∆ never found the victim, never drew weapons, never approached the scene of the intended robbery. The chain of events would have required several more steps before the crime could be committed. Acts were preparatory, not perpetration.
  • Judgment: Conviction reversed; new trial ordered.

Reading: pp. 269–75. Test articulated: "There must be a dangerous proximity to success." See Ch. 6—Attempt.