## Facts

- Mitchell formed a specific intent to kill John Warren.
- Mitchell armed himself with a gun and went to the location where he believed Warren was sleeping.
- From a window, Mitchell fired into the place where he believed Warren was lying in bed.
- Warren was not in the room at the time, making completion of the intended homicide impossible on the actual facts.
- Mitchell was tried and convicted of attempted murder in a Missouri trial court.

## Issues

1. Whether a defendant may be convicted of attempted murder when, unknown to the defendant, the victim is not present so that completion of the crime is factually impossible.
2. Whether Missouri’s attempt statute requires actual possibility of completion, or only intent plus an act toward commission of the offense.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that factual impossibility (the victim’s absence) does not bar liability for attempt where the defendant intended the crime and committed an act toward its commission.
- Mitchell’s conduct—arming himself, going to the window of the room where he believed the victim was, and firing into the bed area—constituted an overt act toward murder under the statute.

## Legal Principles

- Under Missouri attempt law, a defendant is guilty of an attempt if the defendant intends to commit a crime and performs an act toward its commission, even if the crime is not completed.
- Factual impossibility is not a defense to criminal attempt when the intended offense would have been completed if circumstances were as the defendant believed them to be.
- Attempt liability turns on the defendant’s criminal intent and conduct, not on fortuitous external facts that prevent completion.

## Conclusion

The court sustained an attempted-murder conviction where the defendant shot into an empty bed believing the intended victim was present, concluding that the victim’s absence was mere factual impossibility and did not negate attempt under Missouri law.


State v. Mitchell, 170 Mo. 633, 71 S.W. 175 (Mo. 1902)