[Copernicus]

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Muggings...decoys are often used in high crime areas to capture muggings.

No victim, talking to an adult is ok, etc:

In many undercover situations there is no possibility of actually committing the crime. A decoy prostitute wont really give you sex,

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Except the "crime" the johns are charged with is invariably *solicitation*, which is an action that is actually comitted (though there is no victim, and hence, no crime).

I thought you were saying these were "real" crimes, now you're saying there's "no possibility" of the crime being committed. Which is it?

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a briefcase full of drugs may actually contain lactose, a crate full of guns may contain toys,

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But these aren't crimes *anyway* since again, there's no victim.

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a briefcase full of bribe money may contain newspapers.

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Who's the victim here? (hint: this is a trick question!)

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the point is they are all prosecuted for crimes based on intent, even though the actual crime could never have been carried to fruition.