What is Criminal Attempt?
A criminal attempt charge can be just as serious as a completed crime. In Georgia, if you take steps to commit a crime but don’t complete it, you can still be charged with attempt. The best example is an attempted murder charge, which means that the Defendant tried to kill the victim but was unsuccessful (usually because the victim recovered from his injuries). The seriousness of an attempted murder charge is obvious—no judge or jury is going to go lenient on someone that had the intent to kill just because the victim survived.
Criminal attempt is common in drug crimes and child pornography/exploitation crimes, especially if the police intervene in an ongoing activity. In order to defend against an attempt charge, the best criminal lawyers will argue that whatever action their client is alleged to have taken in furtherance of a crime, it was not a “substantial step” towards the completion of the crime. For example, if the charge is attempted prescription fraud and the evidence is a prescription pad that the Defendant was going to use to commit the crime, then the best argument is that there was not enough written on the prescription pad for it to be used to commit a crime. If it was not dated or a signature was not forged on the pad, then it can be argued that a substantial step was not taken to commit a crime.
If you are charged with criminal attempt, you need an aggressive attorney that knows how to fight every piece of the charge. Contact us today to learn how we can help win your case.