[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 171 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 171

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to insert a general provision 
                         for criminal attempt.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

  Mr. DeWine introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to insert a general provision 
                         for criminal attempt.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CRIMINAL ATTEMPT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting before section 2 the following:
``Sec. 1. Criminal attempt
    ``(a) Offense.--A person is guilty of an offense if, acting with 
the state of mind otherwise required for the commission of a crime, 
that person intentionally engages in conduct that, if successful, would 
constitute or result in the offense.
    ``(b) Affirmative Defense.--It is an affirmative defense to a 
prosecution under this section that, under circumstances manifesting a 
voluntary and complete renunciation of criminal intent, the defendant 
avoided the commission of the crime attempted by abandoning any 
criminal effort and, if mere abandonment was insufficient to accomplish 
such avoidance, by taking affirmative steps that prevented the 
commission of the crime.
    ``(c) Defense Precluded.--It is not a defense to a prosecution 
under this section--
            ``(1) that it was factually or legally impossible for the 
        actor to commit the crime, if the crime could have been 
        committed had the circumstances been as the actor believed them 
        to be; or
            ``(2) that the crime attempted was completed.
    ``(d) Proof.--In a prosecution under this section, any special 
proof provision that is specified in this title as applicable to the 
crime attempted is applicable also to an offense described in this 
section, unless a different application is plainly required.
    ``(e) Grading.--An offense described in this section is an offense 
of the next lesser degree than the offense attempted.
    ``(f) Jurisdiction.--There is Federal jurisdiction over an offense 
described in this section if the crime attempted is a Federal crime 
with regard to which Federal jurisdiction--
            ``(1) is not limited to certain specified circumstances; or
            ``(2) is limited to certain specified circumstances and any 
        such circumstance exists or has occurred, or would exist or 
        occur if the course of conduct involving the crime were 
        completed.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 1 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 
1 and inserting the following:

``1. Criminal attempt.''.
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