Black’s Law Dictionary, 1st Edition page 103:
An intent to do a particular criminal thing combined with an act which falls short of the thing intended. 1 Bish. Crim. Law, § 728.
There is a marked distinction between “attempt ” and “intent.” The former conveys the idea of physical effort to accomplish an act; the latter, the quality of mind with which an act was done. To charge, in an indictment, an assault with an attempt to murder, is not equivalent to charging an assault with intent to murder. 14 Ala. 411.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 2nd Edition page 102:
An intent to do a particular criminal thing combined with an act which falls short of the thing intended. 1 Bish. Crim. Law, § 728.
There is a marked distinction between “attempt ” and “intent.” The former conveys the idea of physical effort to accomplish an act; the latter, the quality of mind with which an act was done. To charge, in an indictment, an assault with an attempt to murder, is not equivalent to charging an assault with intent to murder. 14 Ala. 411.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 3rd Edition page 165:
An effort or endeavor to accomplish a crime, amounting to more than mere preparation or planning for it, which, if not prevented, would have resulted in the full consummation of the act attempted, but which, in fact, does not bring to pass the party’s ultimate -design. ”
People v. Moran, 123 N; Y. 254, 25 N. E. 412, 10 L. R. A. 109, 20 Am. St. Rep. 732 ; Gandy v. State, 13 Neb. 445, 14 N. ·W. 143 ; Seott v. People, 141 Ill. 195, 30 N. E. 329 ; Brown v. State,27Tex.App.330,11S.W.412;U.S.v. Ford (D. C.) 34 F. 26 : Com. v. Eagan, 42 A. 374, 190 Pa. 10.
An intent to do a particular criminal thing combined with an act which falls short of the thing intended. 1 Bish. Crim. Law, § 728;
Johnson v. State, 14 Ga. 55 ; People v. Lawton, 56 Barb. (N. Y.) 126; Cunningham v. State, 4l.l Miss. 685 ; Wooldridge v. United States (C. C. A.) 237 F. 775, 776; State v. Schwarzbach, 84 N. J. Law, 268, 86 A. 423, 424 ; “Lahey v. Lahey, 109 Or. 146, 219 P. 807, 809 ; Gustine v. State, 86 Fla. 24, 97 So. 207, 208. An “attempt” to commit a crime consists of three elements: (1) The intent to com mit the crime ; (2) performance of some act toward the commission of a crime ; and (3) the failure to consummate its commission. State v. Thompson, 118 Kan. 256, 234 P. 980, 981 ; People v. Lardner, 300 Ill. 264, 133 N. E. 375, 19 A. L. R. 721.
There is a marked distinction between “attempt ” and “intent.” The former conveys the idea of physical effort to accomplish an act; the latter, the quality of mind with which an act was done. To charge, in an indictment, an assault with an attempt to murder, is not equivalent to charging an assault with intent to murder. 14 Ala. 411.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition page 389-390:
attempt,n.1. The act or an instance of making an effort to accomplish something, esp. without success. 2.Criminal law. An overt act that is done with the intent to commit a crime but that falls short of completing the crime. • Attempt is an inchoate offense distinct from the attempted crime. Under the Model Penal Code, an attempt includes any act that is a substantial step toward commission of a crime, such as enticing, lying in wait for, or following the intended victim or unlawfully entering a building where a crime is expected to be committed. See Model Penal Code § 5.01. — Also termed criminal attempt; offer. See DANGEROUS-PROXIMITY TEST; INDISPENSABLE-ELEMENT TEST ; LAST-PROXIMATE-ACT TEST; PHYSICAL-PROXIMITY TEST; PROBABLE-DESISTANCE TEST ; RES IPSA LOQUITUR TEST. Cf. CONSPIRACY; SOLICITATION(2). [Cases: Criminal Law 44. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 114–123.] — attempt,vb.
“An attempt to commit an indictable offence is itself a crime. Every attempt is an act done with intent to commit the offence so attempted. The existence of this ulterior intent or motive is the essence of the attempt…. [Yet] [a]lthough every attempt is an act done with intent to commit a crime, the converse is not true. Every act done with this intent is not an attempt, for it may be too remote from the completed offence to give rise to criminal liability, notwithstanding the criminal purpose of the doer. I may buy matches with intent to burn a haystack, and yet be clear of attempted arson; but if I go to the stack and there light one of the matches, my intent has developed into a criminal attempt.” John Salmond, Jurisprudence 387 (Glanville L. Williams ed.10th ed. 1947).
“Attempt … is the most common of the preliminary crimes. It consists of steps taken in furtherance of an indictable offence which the person attempting intends to carry out if he can. As we have seen there can be a long chain of such steps and it is necessary to have some test by which to decide that the particular link in the chain has been reached at which the crime of attempt has been achieved; that link will represent the actus reus of attempt ….” J.W. Cecil Turner, Kenny’s Outlines of Criminal Law 79 (16th ed. 1952).
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