## Facts

- David Francis Trinkle drank heavily at a tavern; the bartender refused further service due to intoxication.
- Trinkle went to another bar, drank more, bought a .357 handgun, returned near the first tavern, and fired at the building, wounding a patron (Gayle Lane).
- The State indicted Trinkle for attempted murder, alleging he shot Lane “knowing” the act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm.

## Issues

1. Under the Illinois Criminal Code, does attempted murder require proof of a specific intent to kill?
2. Are an indictment and jury instructions defective if they permit an attempted murder conviction based on knowledge that the act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm?

## Decision

- The Illinois Supreme Court held attempted murder is a specific-intent offense requiring proof of intent to kill.
- The court ruled the attempted murder indictment and issues instruction were insufficient because they used the murder statute’s “knowledge/strong probability” mental-state formulation rather than intent to kill.
- The court affirmed the appellate court’s modification of the conviction from attempted murder to aggravated battery and its reduction of the sentence.

## Legal Principles

- Criminal attempt requires intent to commit a specific offense plus a substantial step toward committing that offense.
- Because murder may be proven by mental states short of intent to kill, those alternative mental states do not automatically supply the mens rea for attempted murder.
- Attempted murder cannot be sustained on proof that the defendant merely knew his conduct created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm; the State must prove intent to kill.
- A charging instrument and jury instructions for attempted murder must require a finding of intent to kill; using a “strong probability” standard misstates the elements.
- An appellate court may modify a conviction to a supported lesser offense and adjust the sentence when the attempted murder conviction fails on the intent element.

## Conclusion

The court required proof of specific intent to kill for attempted murder and affirmed modification of the judgment to aggravated battery where the indictment and instructions allowed conviction on a knowledge-of-probability-of-harm theory.


People v. Trinkle, 68 Ill. 2d 198, 369 N.E.2d 888 (Ill. 1977)