U.S. v. Smith, 50 M.J. 380

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 80 - Attempts Pre-2019 offenses

1. where accused admits in providence inquiry that acts went beyond mere preparation and points to a particular action that satisfies himself on this point, it is neither legally nor logically well-founded to say that actions that may be ambiguous on this point fall short of the line “as a matter of law” so as to be substantially inconsistent with guilty plea
2. accused’s admissions during guilty plea inquiry, in their entirety, show substantial step toward commission of crime of larceny and are sufficient to constitute an attempt to commit larceny where: (1) accused previously devised and executed a particular scheme to falsely obtain credit card from same bank and used it to make purchases; (2) accused provided co-actor unauthorized military personnel information with which to acquire second credit card from same bank; and (3) accused’s actions showed unequivocal criminal intent to commit larceny

Trial Stages: Merits: Guilty Pleas

1. where accused admits in providence inquiry that acts went beyond mere preparation and points to a particular action that satisfies himself on this point, it is neither legally nor logically well-founded to say that actions that may be ambiguous on this point fall short of the line “as a matter of law” so as to be substantially inconsistent with guilty plea