Updated October 2026 | The Bulldog Law | California Homicide Defense

Attempted voluntary manslaughter is a crime in California. Attempted involuntary manslaughter is not. The difference comes from the law of attempt, which requires a specific intent to commit the completed crime: voluntary manslaughter is an intentional killing, reduced from murder because it was committed in the heat of passion or in an honest but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense, and a person can intend it; involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional killing by criminal negligence, and no one can intend an unintended result.

The crime is punished at half the term for the completed offense, 18 months, 3 years, or 5 years and 6 months, compared to 5, 7, or 9 years for attempted murder and life for attempted premeditated murder, and it is a strike. In practice it is rarely filed on its own; it is the lesser offense a jury considers in an attempted murder trial, and the plea that resolves many attempted murder cases.

The Bulldog Law's attorneys defend attempted murder charges across California, and in a large share of them the realistic question is not acquittal but whether the intent to kill was formed with malice or in a state the law treats as less culpable. That question is the difference between a determinate term of a few years and a life sentence, and attempted voluntary manslaughter is the name of the answer. What follows is the law of attempt as it applies to homicide, the elements of the crime, its relationship to attempted murder, the sentence computed under Penal Code 664, the enhancements and the strike rule, and the defenses. Call (888) 928-1609 or message our team.

The law of attempt and why it excludes involuntary manslaughter

Penal Code 664 punishes any person who attempts to commit a crime but fails or is prevented, and Penal Code 21a defines an attempt as a specific intent to commit the crime plus a direct but ineffectual act toward its commission. The intent requirement is what sorts the homicide offenses. Murder can be attempted when the defendant intended to kill; an attempt to commit implied-malice murder, where the defendant consciously disregarded a risk of death without intending it, does not exist, because the law requires an intent to kill for any attempted homicide. Voluntary manslaughter can be attempted because its core is an intent to kill, or at least an intentional act, formed under provocation or mistaken fear.

Involuntary manslaughter under Penal Code 192(b) cannot be attempted, because its mental state is criminal negligence, a failure to appreciate a risk, and a person cannot specifically intend to kill someone negligently; the California Supreme Court settled the point decades ago, and an information charging attempted involuntary manslaughter would be dismissed. The same logic excludes attempted vehicular manslaughter. A person whose negligent conduct nearly killed someone is charged with the conduct offense, reckless driving, criminal storage of a firearm, child endangerment, or assault, not with an attempted homicide. Our discussion of negligent homicide covers the negligence standard.

The elements

The jury instruction, CALCRIM 603 and 604, sets out attempted voluntary manslaughter in two forms. Under the heat-of-passion form, the prosecution must prove that the defendant took at least one direct but ineffective step toward killing a person, that the defendant intended to kill that person, that the defendant attempted the killing because of a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion, that the defendant was provoked, that as a result of the provocation the defendant acted rashly and under the influence of intense emotion that obscured reasoning or judgment, and that the provocation would have caused a person of average disposition to act rashly and without due deliberation.

Under the imperfect self-defense form, the prosecution must prove the direct step and the intent to kill, and that the defendant attempted the killing because they actually believed they or someone else were in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury and actually believed that deadly force was necessary, but at least one of those beliefs was unreasonable. The direct step is the same as for attempted murder: more than planning or preparation, an act that shows the defendant had put the plan in motion and would have completed the killing but for interruption, failure, or a change of mind that came too late. A shot that missed, a stab that was deflected, a strangulation stopped by a third party, and a vehicle driven at a person who jumped clear each qualify. Our pages on voluntary manslaughter's two routes and on self-defense cover the provocation and belief elements in depth.

The relationship to attempted murder

Attempted voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense of attempted murder. The two share the intent to kill and the direct step; attempted murder adds malice, and the heat-of-passion and imperfect self-defense circumstances are the facts that negate malice. The procedural consequence is that a defendant charged with attempted murder is entitled to a jury instruction on attempted voluntary manslaughter whenever substantial evidence of provocation or imperfect self-defense exists, whether the defense requests it or not, and the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in the heat of passion or in an honest belief in the need for self-defense in order to obtain an attempted murder conviction.

A jury that is not convinced returns the lesser verdict. The premeditation allegation that turns attempted murder into a life offense is incompatible with heat of passion, because a person who deliberated did not act rashly, so evidence of provocation attacks both the malice and the premeditation finding at once. Where an attempted murder case is resolved by plea, attempted voluntary manslaughter is the common landing place: it gives the prosecution a strike conviction for an intentional attempt on a life and gives the defendant a determinate term instead of life or 5 to 9 years plus enhancements. Our attorneys prepare the provocation and self-defense case from the first appearance for that reason, because it is both the trial defense and the negotiating position.

The sentence under Penal Code 664

Penal Code 664(a) provides that an attempt is punished by one-half the term of imprisonment prescribed for the completed offense, and voluntary manslaughter carries three, six, or eleven years under Penal Code 193(a). The attempt therefore carries 18 months, three years, or five years and six months, with the middle term presumptive. The table places it against the neighboring offenses.

Several enhancements attach. Personal infliction of great bodily injury under Penal Code 12022.7 adds three years, or more for elderly, child, and domestic violence victims, and applies here because the victim survived. Personal use of a firearm under Penal Code 12022.5 adds three, four, or ten years. The firearm enhancements under Penal Code 12022.53, which add 10, 20, or 25 years to life, apply to attempted murder but not to attempted voluntary manslaughter, because manslaughter is not among the listed felonies, and the absence of that enhancement is one of the largest practical differences between the two charges in a shooting case. Attempted voluntary manslaughter is a serious felony under Penal Code 1192.7(c)(39), which makes every attempt to commit a listed serious felony, other than an assault, a serious felony itself, so the conviction is a strike, doubles a later felony sentence, and adds five years to a later serious felony conviction. Whether it is also a violent felony for credit purposes depends on a great bodily injury or firearm-use finding.

Defenses

The defenses track the elements and run in two directions. Toward acquittal: that the defendant acted in reasonable self-defense, which is a complete defense to any attempted homicide; that the defendant did not intend to kill, in which case the correct charge is at most assault with a deadly weapon or battery, because an intent to injure, frighten, or stop someone is not an intent to kill, and the prosecution's evidence of intent, usually the weapon, the aim, the number of blows or shots, and the words spoken, is contested through forensic and medical testimony; that the defendant abandoned the attempt voluntarily before taking a direct step; and identity. Toward the lesser offense, in an attempted murder case: the provocation evidence, the history between the parties, the threats and conduct of the alleged victim, the suddenness of the encounter, and the defendant's actual fear, which together negate malice and premeditation and produce an attempted voluntary manslaughter verdict or plea.

A large share of these cases arise from domestic violence and from fights between people who know each other, where the history supplies both the provocation and the fear, and in those cases expert testimony on the effects of intimate partner battering is admissible to explain the defendant's actual beliefs. Where the completed crime would have been murder under the felony-murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, no attempt lies on those theories, because each dispenses with an intent to kill, so an accomplice who did not personally intend the killing cannot be convicted of attempted murder or attempted manslaughter on them.

Frequently asked questions

Is attempted manslaughter a crime?

Attempted voluntary manslaughter is a crime in California; attempted involuntary manslaughter is not. An attempt requires a specific intent to commit the completed crime, and voluntary manslaughter is an intentional killing reduced from murder by heat of passion or imperfect self-defense, so a person can intend it. Involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional killing by criminal negligence, and a person cannot intend an unintentional result, so there is no such crime as attempting it. A person who tried to kill in the heat of passion and failed is charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter, or more often with attempted murder with attempted voluntary manslaughter as the lesser offense.

What is the sentence for attempted voluntary manslaughter in California?

Half the sentence for the completed crime. Voluntary manslaughter carries 3, 6, or 11 years under Penal Code 193(a), so under Penal Code 664(a) attempted voluntary manslaughter carries 18 months, 3 years, or 5 years and 6 months in state prison. It is a serious felony and a strike. If the victim suffered great bodily injury, Penal Code 12022.7 adds 3 years, and personal use of a firearm adds 3, 4, or 10 years under Penal Code 12022.5. By comparison, attempted murder carries 5, 7, or 9 years, and attempted premeditated murder carries life with the possibility of parole.

What is the difference between attempted murder and attempted manslaughter?

Both require an intent to kill and a direct step toward killing. The difference is whether the intent was formed with malice or in a state that negates malice: a sudden quarrel or heat of passion after adequate provocation, or an honest but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense. If either applies, the attempt is attempted voluntary manslaughter rather than attempted murder. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in the heat of passion or in imperfect self-defense, and the jury in an attempted murder trial is instructed on attempted voluntary manslaughter whenever the evidence supports it.

Can attempted manslaughter be charged on its own?

Yes, though it is uncommon. Prosecutors usually file attempted murder and leave attempted voluntary manslaughter to the jury as a lesser included offense, or agree to it in a plea. A direct filing of attempted voluntary manslaughter occurs where the provocation or the self-defense evidence is so clear from the outset that the prosecutor does not believe malice can be proved.

Is attempted voluntary manslaughter a strike?

Yes. Voluntary manslaughter is a serious felony under Penal Code 1192.7(c), and the statute makes any attempt to commit a listed serious felony, other than an assault, a serious felony as well. A conviction is therefore a strike that doubles the sentence on any later felony and counts toward a third-strike life sentence. It also carries a five-year enhancement on a later serious felony conviction under Penal Code 667(a).

What if the victim was not seriously hurt?

The charge does not depend on injury. An attempt is complete when the defendant, intending to kill, takes a direct but ineffective step toward the killing, so a shot that missed, a stab that was blocked, or a strangulation that was interrupted is an attempted killing whether or not the victim was hurt. Injury matters to the sentence, through the great bodily injury enhancement, and to the evidence of intent, because the prosecution often proves intent to kill from the nature and location of the wounds. Where the evidence shows an intent to injure rather than to kill, the correct charge is assault with a deadly weapon or by force likely to produce great bodily injury, not an attempted homicide.

Related reading from our attorneys

• Attempted murder under Penal Code 664/187
• Manslaughter versus murder: the differences
• Assault with a deadly weapon under Penal Code 245

Charged with attempted murder? The intent and the provocation decide the sentence

The Bulldog Law's criminal defense attorneys defend attempted murder and attempted manslaughter cases across California, with the self-defense and provocation evidence developed from the first appearance. Call (888) 928-1609 or reach us online.