Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: attempted muder

People are allowed to use reasonable force to defend themselves. Using more force than is reasonable under the circumstances can be charged as a crime.

The attempted murder charge indicates that the police think the target was trying to kill the aggressor. Use of deadly force is allowed only when faced with a risk of death or serious bodily injury. If the target was not facing such a risk then he was not allowed to respond with deadly force. A charge of attempted murder is appropriate in such a scenario.