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Criminal Law Keyed to Weaver
Commonwealth v. Peaslee
Citation:
177 Mass. 267, 59 N.E. 55 (1901).Facts
Peaslee made and arranged combustibles in a building so once lit the building and the contents of the building would burn. Peaslee offered to pay a man to take a candle that was 6 feet away from the wood and pan with turpentine in it, and place the candle on the piece of wood in a pan of turpentine and light it, to which the man agreed. Peaslee was driving the man to the building, and when they were about a quarter of a mile away from the building Peaslee stated that he changed his mind and then drove away. Peaslee contends that while the mens rea element may be present the actus reus element is not present and therefore he should not have been convicted of attempting to burn the building.
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