In State v. Williams, decided on June 12, 2019, the South Carolina Supreme Court recognized continued confusion surrounding the prosecutions burden of proof in attempted murder cases.

Although attempted murder is a specific intent crime, the trial judge, without objection, instructed the jurors that a specific intent is not required to prove attempted murder. As a result, the Supreme Court reasoned this instruction became the law of the case and did not consider whether “the doctrine of transferred intent applied to a specific-intent crime such as attempted murder.” As Justice Kittridge stated in the opinion, “transferred intent makes a whole crime out of two halves by joining the intent to harm one victim with the actual harm caused to another” victim.

Click this link to read State v. Williams.