Chapter 04, Class 09

Intro to Mens Rea | Subjective & Objective Mens Rea | Forms of Subjective Mens Rea | The Concepts of Intention and Knowledge in the CCC

Definition of *mens rea*

==All other mental elements (except voluntariness)== that a Crown must prove to obtain a conviction in a criminal case

What are the two types of mens rea?

• Objective mens Rea

• Subjective mens rea

Subjective mens rea (Definition)

• What was actually going on in the mind of the accused at the time of the offense

• The mental fault lies in what the accused intended/knew at the time of the misconduct (i.e. deliberately choosing to do wrong)

Objective mens rea (Definition)

• Mental fault lies in the failure to direct the mind to the risk of conduct OR failure to live up to the standards of care expected of a reasonable person.

• What should have been in the mind of the accused at the time of the misconduct, had they acted reasonably

What the Crown needs to prove for cases of __subjective__ mens rea

That the accused deliberately chose to do something wrong

By legal definition, either/or;

1. That the accused had the deliberate intention to bring about those prohibited consequences (e.g. 1st degree murder)

2. That the accused had the subjective realization that their conduct might produce such prohibited consequences and proceeded with this conduct regardless of their actual knowledge of this risk.

What the Crown has to prove in a case of __objective__ mens rea

• That the accused had the capacity to live up to the standard of care expected of a reasonable person and failed to do so.

• I.e. a reasonable person in the same circumstance and with the same knowledge as the accused would appreciated that their conduct is creating a risk of prohibited consequence and would have taken action to avoid doing so

Difference between general intent offenses (objective mens rea focus) and specific intent offenses (subjective mens rea focus)

• General intent offenses are committed for the sake of committing the crime; usually an act of momentary passion (e.g. sexual assault)

• Specific intent offenses are usually means-to-an-end misconduct ; seen often as a deliberate and preconceived step towards an illegal goal (e.g. shooting a cashier in the middle of a robbery)

Forms of subjective mens rea

• Intent

• Knowledge

• Recklessness

• Willful blindness

• Any specific state of mind as required in the legal definition of the offense (e.g. first degree murder => proof of “planned and deliberate“)