-Attempted murderer is
when you try to kill
somebody but fail.
So, you know, classic examples
would be shooting a person,
stabbing a person, poisoning a
person, in a situation where
you really want that person to
die, but for whatever reason
they survive, and they're
not actually killed.
Now, premeditated, willful and
premeditated attempted murder
in California entails
life in prison.
So it's very serious.
I mean, the penalties and
consequences are almost as
serious as an actual murder.
But that said, we find that
attempted murder is one of
those crimes where a lot of
people get wrongly accused,
and in many cases, tragically
wrongly convicted.
First of all, a lot of times,
there is a mistaken
identification.
Now, mistaken ID, where
witnesses sort of identify the
wrong suspect is the number one
reason across California
and across the US why people
get wrongly convicted.
And especially in a situation
where, let's say there was a
gun used, or a knife, or some
sort of weapon, witnesses to
the crime have a tendency to
fixate on the weapon, and not
get a good look at
the perpetrator.
And in a situation where it's
dark, or there's a chaotic
event, or a fight going on,
things happen quickly.
Witnesses and victims
are under stress.
In those situations, their
ability to identify the right
perpetrator later in a six pack
line up, or a photo line
up, or a live line up
is compromised.
And we find time and time again
that the wrong person
gets arrested because of
mistaken identification.
Also, we find many times that we
have a client who acted in
righteous self defense.
So yes, maybe he did use some
sort of violence against
another person, but the other
person was the aggressor, and
our client was really just
trying to protect himself, or
protect his family, or his
friends, and was acting in
lawful, legitimate
self defense.
Sometimes we find a situation
where the prosecutor charges
attempted murder, but there's no
evidence that there was an
intent to kill.
The prosecutor, to prove this
crime, has to show that the
perpetrator had an actual
intent to kill.
That they weren't simply trying
to injure the victim,
or harm the victim, but they
were literally trying to end
the victim's life.
And a lot of times, that's
not evident.
And a lot of times, that
can't be proven.
Here at Shouse Law Group, we've
assembled an incredible
team across California of former
prosecutors, former
police officers, investigators,
expert lawyers.
And we've had a great record of
success in attempted murder
cases, and getting our clients'
charges reduced or dismissed.
