Joe sent a box of poisoned candy to his ex-wife, but she hated him so much that she threw it away. Her dog ate the candy, however, and fell sick. So Joe was charged with "administering" poison to his ex-wife.

"Actually Joe did nothing of the kind," defense counsel argued. "His wife threw the candy away without even tasting it."

"Joe did his best to poison her," the prosecutor replied. "Should he go free just because she had the good sense not to eat the stuff?"

If you were the judge, would you release Joe?

Joe was jailed on a lesser charge. The court agreed that he never actually administered poison, but held him guilty of "attempting to administer."

Based upon a 1959 California decision.

-- José Schorr