Actus reus/Mens Rea

What is burden of proof?

Proving beyond a reasonable doubt (BARD)

What does beyond a reasonable doubt mean?

Nothing that can reasonably doubt the evidence

Misdemeanor

crime only punishable by a year

Felony

crime punishable by over a year

Who are the two parties in a criminal case?

The prosecutor represents state and efendant is person accused of the crime.

4 types of Actus Reus

voluntary/physical act, legal duty to act, creation of peril, posesion

What is an example of non voluntary for Actus Reus?

Reflexive/convulsive acts

Requirements for legal duty to act?

Statute (law), contract, relationship

What is the voluntary assumption of care?

No law to help in distress but once you help you must provide reasonable care

What are the four states of mind that satisfy Mens rea?

Purposely, knowingly, recklessly, negligence

General intent

The prosecution only needing to prove the act was voluntary and don’t need to prove your intention for the future

Specific intent

doing the actus reus with intent to cause a particular result

Transferred intent

situations in which one intends to harm one person and instead harms another

What do strict liability crimes require?

No culpability

Purposely

when a person intently conducts themselves in a way to cause a certain result

Knowingly

when a person knows or is aware that his/her conduct may cause a certain result, but still does it anyway

Recklessly

when they are aware of a possible and unjustifiable risk that something bad will happen but they ignore it

Negligence

A person acts negligently when they should be aware of a possible/unjustifiable risk, but they fail to notice it

Joinder

The act and intent must be joined in time and exist concurrently

Causation

Linking a defendant’s actions to the harm that occurred, harm must be forseeable