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Circuit split · criminal law

Whether a conviction for attempted bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) requires proof that the defendant actually committed an act of intimidation, or of force and violence

2 federal appellate cases on this question, each acknowledging the disagreement in its own words.

  1. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals · August 8, 2005

    “On appeal, defendant relies on a Fifth Circuit decision, openly-creating a split of authority, that held the most natural reading of the statute requires proof that the defendant actually committed an act of intimidation, or of force and violence, in order to be convicted of attempted bank robbery.” — Split of authority
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  2. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals · May 18, 2005

    “On appeal, defendant relies on a Fifth Circuit decision, openly creating a split of authority, that held the most natural reading of the statute requires proof that the defendant actually committed an act of intimidation, or of force and violence, in order to be convicted of attempted bank robbery.” — Creates a split
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The provision at issue

18 U.S.C. § 2113 — Bank robbery and incidental crimes
“(a) Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another, or obtains or attempts to obtain by extortion any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association; or Whoever enters or attempts to enter any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association, or any building used in whole or in part as a bank, credit union, or as a savings and loan …”
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The other side of the split

Decisions the acknowledging court(s) named as the opposing or joined side, quoted in the acknowledging opinion's own words.

What the split turns on

Doctrines & tests:
substantial step

Cases are grouped by the legal question they announce a split on, classified from the court's own acknowledgment sentence. Verified acknowledgments only. Counter-side decisions are extracted from the acknowledging opinions' own text and linked only when the citation resolves in this corpus. See all circuit splits.