Remember that Guy?

 You know, the guy who wanted to assassinate Kavanaugh.  Reportedly, the put some stuff in a bag, traveled across the US, and got to withing a block of Kavanaugh's house before he realized that his mission was doomed to fail.  So, he called the police and turned himself in.  Yeah, him.

Well, he has been indicted, and faces a long prison sentence.

As a retired cop, I wonder what his defense will look like.  As a cop, I was always taught that a successful crime required Means, Motive, and Opportunity.  If I were on the defense team, I would argue that the Opportunity never existed.  At some point during those early morning hours, the defendant himself realized that he did not have the Means, so the Motive went away as well.  As for the argument, I wold simply point to the fact that he turned himself in.  I'm not sure why he made the call.  He could have more easily just turned around and gone home.  No one would have been the wiser.

So, where is the crime?  Now, everyone who has worked around the criminal justice system knows that even a basically competent DA can indict a ham sandwich, but the indictment is simply the first step.  I'm not defending the guy, but if I were, I would argue that at the moment he called the police, he knew that his mission was a falure, and that he had neither Means, Motive, nor Opportunity. He would have been better off calling Uber, but he may not have had the cash and simply wanted a ride.

This is an interesting case, and I'll be watching to see how it works out.