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Committee adopts amendment to attempted-murder statute to address intent and transferred intent
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a subcommittee amendment to S.270 that broadens attempted murder to cover unlawful violent acts likely to cause death or great bodily injury and adds language to address transferred intent; the bill was reported favorably.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a subcommittee amendment to S.270, a bill that changes the definition of attempted murder to address gaps created by case law on intent.
Senator Adams, the subcommittee chair, explained the bill would remove the requirement that prosecutors prove a defendant had a specific intent to kill and instead make attempted murder cover “an unlawful act of a violent nature that causes injury to another person with malice.” The subcommittee’s amendment (referred to as Tab H / Delta 10) refines that language by adding transferred-intent language and by defining an “act of a violent nature” as one that, if completed, would likely cause death or great bodily injury.
Sharon, the committee staff member, said the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination presented the amendment to the subcommittee and requested other technical edits. Committee members discussed a related cleanup to a first-degree assault and battery provision to avoid duplication with the new attempted-murder language.
The chair called for and the committee adopted the amendment after a motion and second; the amendment received a voice vote in favor with no recorded opposition. The committee then voted to report the amended bill favorably.
The amendment narrows the statutory language to cover violent acts that are likely to cause death or great bodily injury and explicitly addresses transferred intent, which sponsors said will close prosecutorial loopholes raised by case law.
No roll-call vote was recorded on the transcript for the amendment or the final committee action; both were taken by voice vote after the subcommittee recommendation.
