Provides for responsive verdicts for specific crimes. (8/1/26)

SB 166 amends Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 814(A) to expand the range of responsive verdicts available to juries when charged with homicide offenses and to eliminate responsive verdict options for negligent homicide. The bill adds attempted murder verdicts as responsive options for cases charged as first degree murder, second degree murder, and manslaughter. Specifically, when an indictment charges first degree murder, juries may now return guilty verdicts for attempted first degree murder, attempted second degree murder, or attempted manslaughter in addition to the existing responsive verdicts of guilty of second degree murder or manslaughter. For second degree murder charges, attempted second degree murder and attempted manslaughter become new responsive verdict options. For manslaughter charges, attempted manslaughter becomes a new responsive option. Simultaneously, the bill removes negligent homicide as a responsive verdict option for second degree murder and manslaughter charges and repeals the responsive verdict provisions entirely for negligent homicide charges, eliminating that offense from the responsive verdict framework.

This legislation directly affects criminal defendants, prosecutors, and juries in homicide prosecutions. Defendants charged with first and second degree murder will face expanded verdict options that allow conviction on attempted murder charges rather than acquittal if the jury determines the prosecution did not prove the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors gain additional conviction pathways in homicide cases where they cannot prove the specific intent or circumstances required for the original charge. Juries will have more graduated verdict options that may better align with their factual findings about the defendant's culpability, though the addition of attempted murder verdicts creates new intermediate conviction possibilities between acquittal and conviction on the charged offense.

The responsive verdict framework in Article 814 operates within Louisiana's scheme of graduated homicide offenses, which ranks murder convictions by degree based on intent and circumstances. The statute operates as a procedural safeguard allowing juries to return guilty verdicts for lesser included offenses when evidence does not support conviction on the charged offense. By adding attempted murder verdicts, the bill integrates attempt liability into the homicide responsive verdict structure, recognizing that a defendant's conduct may constitute an attempted killing rather than a completed homicide. The removal of negligent homicide as a responsive verdict for murder and manslaughter charges reflects a statutory recalibration of which offenses constitute proper responsive verdicts in the homicide hierarchy.