If you attempt suicide and live can you be tried in court for murder?

Question

I doubt it, but i know its a lot of weird laws and fine print that lawyers know about, that i dont.

What i mean, is attempted murder. sorry bout that.

Answer 1

First of all, laws vary by state. Suicide and attempted suicide are not illegal in all states. For example, California and Ohio both do not prohibit suicide or attempted suicide.

Second, it's not attempted murder, because murder is homicide, which is the killing of another person (not yourself).

But yes, there are some states that make attempted suicide a crime.

Answer 2

Here is an answer from Wikipedia: "Legal Views of Suicide". It should answer your question:

n the United States, suicide has never been punished as a crime nor penalized by property forfeiture or ignominious burial.[citation needed] Historically, various states listed the act as a felony, but all were reluctant to enforce it. By 1963, six states still considered attempted suicide a crime (North and South Dakota, Washington, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oklahoma). By the early 1990s only two US states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification. In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," that is, a crime based on the law of old England as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in Wackwitz v. Roy in 1992.) As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the family of the suicidal person in a lawsuit unless the suicidal person can be proven to have been "of unsound mind." That is, the suicide must be proven to have been an involuntary, not voluntary, act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded money damages by the court. This can occur when the family of the deceased sues the caregiver (perhaps a jail or hospital) for negligence in failing to provide appropriate care. See standard of care, tort, negligence.

In many jurisdictions it is a crime to assist others, directly or indirectly, to take their own life, or, in some juristictions, to even encourage them to do so. Sometimes an exception applies for physician assisted suicide (PAS), under strict conditions; see Euthanasia.

In the Australian state of Victoria, while suicide itself is no longer a crime, a survivor of a suicide pact can be charged with manslaughter. Also, it is a crime to counsel, incite, or aid and abet another to attempt or commit suicide, and the law explicitly allows any person to use "such force as may reasonably be necessary" to prevent another from committing suicide.

In the Netherlands, being present and giving moral support during someone's suicide is not a crime; neither is supplying general information on suicide techniques. However, it is a crime to participate in the preparation for or execution of a suicide, including supplying lethal means or instruction in their use.

Answer 3

Good Morning. Your answer is coming from South Africa.

First and foremost. People commit suicide for various reasons.
Some kill themselves for they are afraid to face the consequences of certain actions they took prior to the suicide.
This at the moment is very common in our country. Heads of families has been resorting to killing off their entire families and then themselves for they know they will be facing a lifetime in prison. Please note for this you will definetly be trailed and sentenced to a correctional facility.
Others commit suicide because they see no other reason to keep on living.
This is normally due to some mental problem and should be treated accordingly for example depression, bipolar etc.
If suicide is committed due to a mental illness it normally is because the treatment has been stopped mostly by the individual him/herself or the person’s illness has not been identified by a medical practitioner and has remained untreated.
This leads to a condition of uncertainty of the feelings you are experiencing and the only answer to it feels like suicide, because of the need to feel "normal" and failing to do so on your own.

The answer to your question: you will be treated by a psychologist after your physical ailment has been addessed and they will do an assesment and investigate the cause of our action/ whether or not you were of sound mind/body at the time. If your illness has been identified prior to the incident they will see if the medication was effective or was just stopped. Either way they will make a decision accordingly. After this they will most likely be sent to a mental institution for treatment, for most of the survivors of suicide will try it again until they succeed. This is a very sad story but most of the time they do succeed. Therefore they need to be monitored on a constant basis until the medical practitioner is 100% certain that this person has been rehabilitated. Otherwise you can be omitted to the institution for life. Remember that this is different to a prison.
Some people are in similar institution because they were sent there for their own well-being.

It is also very important to know that if you are currently diagnosed as having a mental illness and you are on medication as prescribed by your psychologist you will live a normal live. The medication, most of the time, will never be stopped it might be decreased but never stopped.
And just because you are to some extend dependant on medication does not make you weird/ abnormal or makes you classified as being crazy. A lot of people uses meds to stay alive i.e. inhalers....
Have an excellent day :-)

Answer 4

If you lived, you obviously didn't murder yourself. Suicide is against the law in many states, but I've never heard of anyone being charged with it. Most suicide attempts are treated in the ER and then sent to the psych ward.

Answer 5

You cant be tried for murder, if no-one died. They used to charge people for attempted suicide, but now I'm pretty sure you just get put in a mental health unit, till they can help you.

Answer 6

A person attempting suicide is considered insane and therefore cannot be held accountable for there actions. This is also why anyone who attempts suicide is committed to an asylum for a period of time for therapy in order to help there mental illness.

Answer 7

You could plead Guilty by reason of insanity. The jury could only come to the conclusion that only a sane person could make such a plea and it would have to return a verdict of not guilty because you are not insane.

I don't understand why stupidity is not a crime.

Answer 8

No, but they will commit you to a mental hospital. I think they can only charge you with something if you damage property in the process... jump off a bridge onto a car, jump in front of a bus, stuff like that/

Answer 9

I've never heard of that. But theoretically, if I were to hire some hit man to come kill me, then even if that attempt wasn't successful, I could be charged with engaging in a conspiracy.

Answer 10

Attempted Suicide and be sentenced to treatment.