Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101 (2026)
Criminal attempt
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) A person commits criminal attempt who, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for the offense:
- (1) Intentionally engages in action or causes a result that would constitute an offense, if the circumstances surrounding the conduct were as the person believes them to be;
- (2) Acts with intent to cause a result that is an element of the offense, and believes the conduct will cause the result without further conduct on the person's part; or
- (3) Acts with intent to complete a course of action or cause a result that would constitute the offense, under the circumstances surrounding the conduct as the person believes them to be, and the conduct constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the offense.
- (b) Conduct does not constitute a substantial step under subdivision (a)(3), unless the person's entire course of action is corroborative of the intent to commit the offense.
- (c) It is no defense to prosecution for criminal attempt that the offense attempted was actually committed.
Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 939
cases (128 in the last 5 years), 1994–2026 · leading case: State v. Mateyko, 53 S.W.3d 666 (Tenn. 2001).
State of Tennessee v. Charles Randolph Carter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026).
State of Tennessee v. Mario Reed (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026).
Sean William Lee v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026).
State of Tennessee v. Shamone Davis (Tenn. Crim. App. 2026).
State of Tennessee v. William Rimmel, III (Tenn. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Asben K. Chapman (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “T.C.A. § 39-12-101(b) (2018). The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, showed that Ms.”
State of Tennessee v. Juwan Jaheim Gaines (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Isaiah French (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Omerrieal Woods (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Destiny Diamond Baxter & Anthony Wayne Sheffield (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Rusty L. Patterson (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
Jamie P. Dennis v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(2) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Decory Sanchez Smith (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025).
State of Tennessee v. Lemonderius Antwan Goodner (Tenn. Crim. App. 2023).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(3) — 1 case
State v. Fowler, 3 S.W.3d 910 (Tenn. 1999).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(a) — 100 cases
State v. Cribbs, 967 S.W.2d 773 (Tenn. 1998).
State v. Biggs, 218 S.W.3d 643 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2006).
State of Tennessee v. Sedrick Clayton, 535 S.W.3d 829 (Tenn. 2017).
State v. Nix, 922 S.W.2d 894 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995).
State v. Lewis, 36 S.W.3d 88 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(a)(1) — 32 cases
State of Tennessee v. Michael Green (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019).
State of Tennessee v. William Sappington (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017).
State of Tennessee v. Wayne Leonard Yelton (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019).
State of Tennessee v. Tory Blackmon (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019).
State of Tennessee v. Michael Wilson (Tenn. Crim. App. 2020).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(a)(2) — 117 cases
State v. Elder, 982 S.W.2d 871 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1998).
State v. Adams, 973 S.W.2d 224 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1997).
State v. Bonds, 502 S.W.3d 118 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2015).
State v. Hall, 947 S.W.2d 181 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1997).
State v. Parris, 236 S.W.3d 173 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2007).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(a)(3) — 132 cases
State v. Elkins, 102 S.W.3d 578 (Tenn. 2003).
State v. Mateyko, 53 S.W.3d 666 (Tenn. 2001).
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Lee Davis, 354 S.W.3d 718 (Tenn. 2011).
State of Tennessee v. Kevin Anthony Dickson, Jr., 413 S.W.3d 735 (Tenn. 2013).
State v. Fowler, 3 S.W.3d 910 (Tenn. 1999).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(a)(l) — 2 cases
State v. Elder, 982 S.W.2d 871 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1998).
State of Tennessee v. Larry J. Patterson (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(b) — 46 cases
State v. Richardson, 251 S.W.3d 438 (Tenn. 2008).
State of Tennessee v. Glenn Fred Glatz (Tenn. Crim. App. 2020).
State of Tennessee v. Adonis Donnell Holbrooks (Tenn. Crim. App. 2020).
State of Tennessee v. Corey Allen Harris (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022).
State of Tennessee v. Betty Sparks (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101(c) — 12 cases
State of Tennessee v. Jeremy Wendell Thorpe, 463 S.W.3d 851 (Tenn. 2015).
State v. Parris, 236 S.W.3d 173 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2007).
State of Tennessee v. Anthony J. Harris (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017).
State of Tennessee v. Joe Edward Daniels (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017).
State of Tennessee v. Michael Scott Knerr (Tenn. Crim. App. 2014).
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