Opinion ID: 2519950
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: An Attempted Murder Conviction Requires Proof of Intent

Text: ¶ 36 Contrary to these authorities, the State argues that intentionally and knowingly are functional equivalents. Although the distinction between intentional conduct and knowing conduct is narrow, the statutory definition of these terms creates a meaningful difference between the two. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-103(1), (2). In addition, the Utah Code specifically states that acting intentionally encompasses acting knowingly, see id. § 76-2-104(3), [9] but it does not provide for the reverse. ¶ 37 Indeed, we accept that it is difficult to conceptualize many examples where one could attempt to commit murder knowingly but not intentionally. However, it is certainly possible that a knowing crime can be committed unintentionally. That is, a person can know that a certain action will cause a certain result without that result being the person's conscious objective. For example, a person may know that blowing up a building will cause the death of people inside, but if his or her intent or conscious objective is only to destroy the building, there is no intent, for purposes of attempt, to kill. See Model Penal Code and Commentary § 5.01 cmt. 2, at 305. By acknowledging that a person may knowingly commit murder without committing the crime intentionally, we also recognize that such behavior is rare. Notwithstanding this observation, we conclude that a conviction for attempted murder must rest on intentional conduct. ¶ 38 In making this clarification, we acknowledge that dicta in the Vigil footnote interpreting Maestas created confusion regarding the mens rea necessary to convict a person of attempted murder. The court of appeals relied in this case on our Maestas decision and our footnote in Vigil. It stated that if we had intended to eliminate attempted `knowing' murders under the `intentional or knowing' alternative of the murder statute, we would have said so. State v. Casey, 2001 UT App 205, ¶ 14, 29 P.3d 25. Although the court of appeals correctly interpreted the language contained in footnote 5 of Vigil, our other cases have consistently held that intent is required to convict someone of an attempt crime. We now hold that a defendant may only be convicted of attempted murder when he or she acts intentionally. To the extent that our opinion in Maestas and our footnote in Vigil contradict this holding, they are overruled. In order to convict a defendant of attempted murder, the prosecution must show that the defendant acted intentionally.