Attempted murder and murder charges in South Carolina hinge on the same legal elements, malice and intent, with survival of the victim being the deciding factor between the two. The Complete Legal Defense Team has represented clients facing both charges, including cases where self-defense was central to the outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Attempted Murder in South Carolina? (Malice & Intent Explained)
What is attempted murder in South Carolina? It’s really just what it sounds like. What is attempted murder? It’s that you tried to kill somebody. There’s supposed to be a requirement of malice for attempted murder, because you could be charged with assault. Assault would be that you intended to harm somebody, to cause them great bodily injury or something like that.
Whereas murder is versus manslaughter, murder requires malice, which is a specific mental state, a specific mental intent to kill somebody. So for attempted murder to be charged, the state has to prove that you had the specific intent to kill another person with malice.
The definition of murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice of forethought. Malice of forethought simply means premeditated, but not premeditated in the way that we think of premeditated. We think of premeditated as, it’s Sunday and you’re plotting to kill somebody on Monday, or it’s Sunday and you’re plotting to kill somebody when you see them next weekend, and you’re making plans and premeditation.
But in murder cases in South Carolina, and I think all states are probably identical on this, malice can be formed shortly before the killing. In other words, you could actually be in a fight and decide, and prosecutors argue this all the time, that that’s when malice was formed, and it didn’t have to exist for a day or an hour or a week.
It could have existed just for a few seconds. So attempted murder is attempt to cause bodily harm which is, was, enough force, called deadly force, that was likely to cause somebody to lose their life. What’s deadly force? Could be beating somebody with a hammer, could be shooting at somebody, it could be trying to push them off a cliff. What’s it most likely going to do? It’s going to produce a death. So it’s a deadly force kind of thing.
So that’s what attempted murder is, that you intend for the person to die. It’s attempted murder, they didn’t die, for whatever reason they survived it. And that’s attempted murder versus murder. In murder, they died. So an attempted murder, that’s the definition of it.
Attempted Murder vs Murder in South Carolina: What’s the Difference?
What is the difference between murder and attempted murder? If somebody’s charged with attempted murder, that means they have been charged with a crime, a felony. In South Carolina it carries up to 30 years in prison, and they are accused of trying to kill somebody. In other words, they used some kind of deadly force, they had a specific intent to kill, they acted with what’s called malice, and they tried to do it. Only the person didn’t die.
So the only difference between the elements of proof for attempted murder versus murder is the person survived it. You could have a situation where somebody was shot, maybe shot multiple times, but they lived, and this happens. Sometimes people are shot and you think there’s no way a person would have survived that, but they lived for whatever reason. So that’s attempted murder.
Sometimes we get a case, and so it’s attempted murder, we’re looking at it because we want to have the bond hearing and we want to do certain things to get the person out. And if it’s a murder, the bond in South Carolina is far more complicated and takes longer and there’s more moving parts to that.
So we’re looking at it, because if they’re charged with attempted murder and then the person’s in the hospital and the person then dies, and that could be before or after they got out of jail, the person dies, then they’re just changing the charge to murder.
So the only difference between attempted murder and murder is did the person die. And in South Carolina, they could have died, I think it’s up to a year later. In other words, if I put you in the hospital and then you later die from the injuries that I am accused of inflicting upon you, you later die, it could be a month later, I think it could be up to a year later, then you could legally be charged with murder. So attempted murder, the victim survives.
Have We Handled Murder and Attempted Murder Cases in South Carolina? (Real Experience)
Yeah, over the years. Handled a lot of murder cases, probably a dozen or more. Most of those cases went to trial. So obviously it’s a murder charge, it’s very involved. Other than the murder cases though, what we really do a lot more of is people charged with attempted murder.
And these are situations that really you wouldn’t expect, in many of them, for somebody to even be charged. They didn’t go out and assault somebody. Usually they got attacked or something happened to them, and they were in a situation where they lawfully defended themselves. And we’ve probably done 40 or 50 of those cases.
Facing an attempted murder or murder charge in South Carolina is serious, and the difference between the two charges can come down to circumstances outside anyone’s control. Greg McCollum brings roughly 30 years of experience and a background as a former prosecutor to these cases, giving him insight into how the state builds its case and where it can be challenged.
If you have questions about attempted murder or murder charges in South Carolina, call the Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team at (843) 626-5480. Consultations are confidential.
