Evans v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia
453 S.E.2d 100 (1995)
Derek Evans and Christopher Tinch (defendants), along with Jermaine Corbitt, planned to break into cars to steal stereo equipment. They drove through several mall parking lots for nearly an hour looking for a target vehicle before abandoning the plan because an undercover police officer's truck was following them. The State of Georgia (plaintiff) charged them with criminal attempt to enter an automobile, and they were convicted. Evans and Tinch appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence of a substantial step toward the crime.
Whether driving through parking lots searching for a car to break into constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the crime, sufficient to support a conviction for criminal attempt.