Attempted assault in the first degree in NY is a Class C violent felony that carries a mandatory determinate prison sentence between 3.5 and 15 years for a first-time offender.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.02 – Sentence of Imprisonment for a Violent Felony Offense Probation is not available, and the conviction brings consequences that outlast the sentence itself.
What the Prosecutor Has to Prove
The charge combines two statutes. The underlying crime, first-degree assault under Penal Law § 120.10, is a Class B violent felony that most often involves intentionally causing serious physical injury with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or intentionally causing permanent disfigurement or the loss of a body part.2New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 120.10 – Assault in the First Degree The attempt statute, Penal Law § 110.00, adds that a person is guilty when, with intent to commit a crime, they engage in conduct that “tends to effect” its commission.3New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 110.00 – Attempt to Commit a Crime New York courts read that phrase to mean conduct that comes “dangerously close” to completing the offense.4New York State Unified Court System. New York Penal Law 110.00 – Attempt to Commit a Crime
Two elements, then. The prosecutor has to show you specifically intended to cause the kind of serious harm the assault statute describes, and that your actions went past planning and came dangerously close to causing it. The injury itself never has to happen. Firing a gun at someone and missing is the textbook example: pulling the trigger supplies the intent, the shot supplies the near-completion, and the miss is irrelevant.
One argument the law closes off at the start: impossibility. Under Penal Law § 110.10, it is not a defense that the crime could not actually have been completed, so long as it could have been completed had circumstances been what you believed.5New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 110.10 – Attempt to Commit a Crime; Defense A shot that hits body armor still supports the attempt charge.
The Sentence
Because New York drops an attempted felony one grade below the completed offense, attempted first-degree assault is a Class C violent felony.6New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 110.05 – Attempt to Commit a Crime; Punishment That classification controls everything that follows.
Mandatory Prison
A judge must impose a determinate prison sentence of between 3.5 and 15 years, set in whole or half years.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.02 – Sentence of Imprisonment for a Violent Felony Offense Probation, split sentences, and conditional discharges are off the table. Penal Law § 60.05 provides that anyone convicted of a Class C violent felony “must be sentenced to imprisonment.”7New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 60.05 – Authorized Disposition; Felonies The judge has discretion inside the 3.5-to-15 range based on the facts and your record. The floor does not move.
Post-Release Supervision
After prison comes a mandatory period of post-release supervision, running from 2.5 to 5 years for a Class C violent felony.8New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.45 – Determinate Sentence; Post-Release Supervision Supervision carries conditions such as regular check-ins, curfews, and limits on travel and associations. A violation can send you back to prison.
Surcharges and Restitution
A felony conviction triggers a $300 mandatory surcharge plus a $25 crime victim assistance fee.9New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 60.35 – Mandatory Surcharge, Sex Offender Registration Fee, DNA Databank Fee, and Supplemental Sex Offender Victim Fee The court can also order restitution to the victim for out-of-pocket losses, generally capped at $15,000 for a felony, though the court can go above that cap for actual medical expenses or to return property.10New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 60.27 – Restitution and Reparation
Prior Violent Felony
If you already have a violent felony on your record, the second violent felony offender rules under Penal Law § 70.04 push the mandatory minimums higher and strip away most of the judge’s discretion. The exposure gets significantly worse.
Defenses Worth Evaluating
A charge is not a conviction. Which defense fits depends entirely on the facts, but these are the arguments defense attorneys most often work with.
Lack of Specific Intent
Attempt is a specific-intent crime. The prosecutor has to prove you meant to cause the particular harm the assault statute describes, not just that you acted badly. Swinging an object in a chaotic fight without aiming at anyone in particular weakens the intent element. Voluntary intoxication can sometimes negate specific intent, though juries tend to view that argument skeptically. Recklessness or negligence is not enough on its own.
Conduct That Stayed in Preparation
Whether your actions came “dangerously close” is a factual question. Buying a knife is not an attempt. Approaching someone with it might be, depending on the circumstances. The further your conduct stayed from completing the assault, the stronger this defense gets.
Justification
New York recognizes self-defense and defense of others as complete justifications for the use of force. If you reasonably believed the other person was about to use deadly force against you or someone else, that belief can defeat both the assault and the attempt. What matters at trial is whether the belief was reasonable, not just whether you held it.
Life After a Conviction
A violent felony conviction follows you long after release. Some consequences are written into statute. Others are practical realities no court orders but that limit your options just as much.
Firearms
Under both New York and federal law, a felony conviction permanently bars you from possessing firearms. In New York, possessing even a rifle or shotgun after a felony is itself a separate offense.11New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 265.01 – Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree
Work and Housing
New York limits how employers and landlords can use criminal history, but a Class C violent felony is a hard record to overcome. Many professional licenses are closed to people with violent felony convictions, and background checks regularly screen out applicants from healthcare, education, law enforcement, and financial services. Private landlords in competitive markets routinely screen for felony records too.
Travel to Canada and Elsewhere
Several countries deny entry to visitors with felony convictions. Canada treats serious foreign offenses as grounds for inadmissibility at the border, and a violent felony would almost certainly qualify. A person may be able to apply for rehabilitation status ten years after finishing the full sentence, but approval is not automatic.
Immigration
For non-citizens, a violent felony conviction can trigger deportation proceedings and permanent bars to future immigration benefits. Attempted first-degree assault is virtually certain to qualify as an “aggravated felony” under federal immigration law, which makes those consequences especially severe and often irreversible. Anyone who is not a citizen needs immigration counsel working alongside the criminal defense attorney from the start of the case.