§27. Attempt; penalties; attempt on peace officer; enhanced penalties

A. Any person who, having a specific intent to commit a crime, does or omits an act for the purpose of and tending directly toward the accomplishing of his object is guilty of an attempt to commit the offense intended; and it shall be immaterial whether, under the circumstances, he would have actually accomplished his purpose.

B.(1) Mere preparation to commit a crime shall not be sufficient to constitute an attempt; but lying in wait with a dangerous weapon with the intent to commit a crime, or searching for the intended victim with a dangerous weapon with the intent to commit a crime, shall be sufficient to constitute an attempt to commit the offense intended.

(2) Further, the placing of any combustible or explosive substance in or near any structure, watercraft, movable, or forestland, with the specific intent eventually to set fire to or to damage by explosive substance such structure, watercraft, movable, or forestland, shall be sufficient to constitute an attempt to commit the crime of arson as defined in R.S. 14:51 through 53.

C. An attempt is a separate but lesser grade of the intended crime; and any person may be convicted of an attempt to commit a crime, although it appears on the trial that the crime intended or attempted was actually perpetrated by such person in pursuance of such attempt.

D. Whoever attempts to commit any crime shall be punished as follows:

(1)(a) If the offense so attempted is punishable by death or life imprisonment, he shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten nor more than fifty years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

(b) If the offense so attempted is punishable by death or life imprisonment and is attempted against an individual who is a peace officer engaged in the performance of his lawful duty, he shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than twenty nor more than fifty years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

(2)(a) If the offense so attempted is theft or receiving stolen things, and is not punishable as a felony, he shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars, imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

(b) If the offense so attempted is receiving stolen things, and is punishable as a felony, he shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

(c)(i) If the offense so attempted is theft of an amount not less than seven hundred fifty dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars, he shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

(ii) If the offense so attempted is theft of an amount over twenty-five thousand dollars, he shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not more than five years, or both.

(3) In all other cases he shall be fined or imprisoned or both, in the same manner as for the offense attempted; such fine or imprisonment shall not exceed one-half of the largest fine, or one-half of the longest term of imprisonment prescribed for the offense so attempted, or both.

E. For the purposes of Subsection D of this Section, the term "peace officer" means any peace officer, as defined in R.S. 40:2402.

Amended by Acts 1970, No. 471, §1; Acts 1975, No. 132, §1; Acts 1989, No. 609, §1; Acts 1995, No. 988, §1; Acts 2003, No. 166, §1; Acts 2003, No. 745, §1; Acts 2010, No. 531, §1; Acts 2013, No. 240, §1; Acts 2014, No. 255, §1.