What is the test for establishing the intent of an individual to carry out an armed robbery?

[p]reparation alone is not enough, there must be some appreciable fragment of the crime committed, it must be in such progress that it will be consummated unless interrupted by circumstances independent of the will of the attempter, and the act must not be equivocal in nature.

United States v. Mandujano, 499 F.2d 370, 376 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 419 U.S.

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Knowing all that we have learned--which the jury did not have before it--we could well believe that the defendants intended to do what the informant claimed they had planned; but their actual conduct did not cross the boundary between preparation and attempt. Appellants were afterwards found to be armed and may have appeared to be reconnoitering Bay View Federal, but none made any move toward the bank. The situation is therefore distinguishable from United States v. Stallworth, 543 F.2d 1038 (2d Cir.1976), where the testimony of an informant established the defendant's intent. The defendant was armed, had stolen materials for disguises, had reconnoitered the bank and moved toward it; all of this confirmed in a taped conversation in which he had discussed the plan of attack. Id. at 1041.