Impossibility not a defense in criminal attempt in Bucks
When you have a case where the charge involves the criminal attempt of something, the fact that it would be impossible to commit the crime is not a defense in Bucks County or Pennsylvania. A legal impossibility was established if, even if the intended facts were committed, would not amount to a crime even if completed. You Bucks County criminal lawyer should advise you that such a defense is not a viable strategy.
Criminal attempt is defined in the crimes code as,
(a) Definition of attempt.--A person commits an attempt when, with intent to commit a specific crime, he does any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that crime.
Initially, a long line of cases from the Jaffe case (a New York case) allowed for the defense of impossibility. But, all of that changed.
Impossibility not recognized
The Pennsylvania legislature specifically wrote out "impossibility" in the Crimes Code:
§ 901. Criminal attempt.
(b) Impossibility.--It shall not be a defense to a charge of attempt that because of a misapprehension of the circumstances it would have been impossible for the accused to commit the crime attempted.
Commonwealth v. Johnson, of 1933, also specifically rejected the impossibility defense. Essentially, the defense of impossibility is no longer a defense and you should consider other issues in your criminal attempt case in Bucks County.