indispensable element test
indispensable-element test. Criminal law. A common-law test for the crime of attempt, based on whether the defendant acquires control over any thing that is essential to the crime. • Under this test, for example, a person commits a crime by buying the explosives with which to detonate a bomb. See ATTEMPT (2). [Cases: Criminal Law 44. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 114–123.]
