Criminal Law

The Criminal Act

    (Actus Reus: Guilty Act)

First Principle of criminal liability:

-All crimes must include a criminal act.

-We punish people for what they do, not what they think or want to do.

-We can’t prove mental attitude, it doesn’t hurt anyone.

    -Daydreaming vs. Intent, there has to be an act for you to be liable, not just a daydreamed thought or wish.

The Criminal Mind

    (Mens Rea: Guilty Mind)

A phrase to determine what the defendant’s mental state and intent when the crime was committed:

-It’s to hard to determine if there was intent because people lie, and a lot of the time the evidence is circumstantial.

-Intention vs. Motive, Intention: what you plan to do, some actions have no intent, key element of determining Criminal Liability. Motive: reason for doing something, every action has a motive, irrelevant in Criminal law, may help direct and an investigation.

Mens Rea

    (4 Categories)

Purpose, Knowledge, Reckless, Neglect

-Purposeful, highest level offense. You intend to engage in conduct of that nature and intend to cause a certain result, aka “I meant for it”.

-Knowledge, second highest offense. The defendant is aware of the nature of the act and it’s probable consequences, aka “i’m aware of it”.

-Reckless, third highest offense. If the defendant consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the bad result or harm will occur, aka “I don’t care”.

-Negligent, fourth highest offense. The defendant’s intent involves substantial and unjustifiable risk, however, they are unaware of it, even though a reasonable person would be, “Huh?”.