§ 12.1-06-01 — Criminal attempt

1. A person is guilty of criminal attempt if, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise
required for commission of a crime, he intentionally engages in conduct which, in fact,
constitutes a substantial step toward commission of the crime. A "substantial step" is
any conduct which is strongly corroborative of the firmness of the actor's intent to
complete the commission of the crime. Factual or legal impossibility of committing the
crime is not a defense, if the crime could have been committed had the attendant
circumstances been as the actor believed them to be.
2. A person who engages in conduct intending to aid another to commit a crime is guilty
of criminal attempt if the conduct would establish his complicity under section
12.1-03-01 were the crime committed by the other person, even if the other is not
guilty of committing or attempting the crime, for example, because he has a defense of
justification or entrapment.
3. Criminal attempt is an offense of the same class as the offense attempted, except that
(a) an attempt to commit a class AA felony is a class A felony and an attempt to
commit a class A felony is a class B felony; and (b) whenever it is established by a
preponderance of the evidence at sentencing that the conduct constituting the attempt
did not come dangerously close to commission of the crime, an attempt to commit a
class B felony shall be a class C felony and an attempt to commit a class C felony
shall be a class A misdemeanor.