Actus Reus & Mens Rea

Question 1

Voluntary act

Answer 1

a willed muscular contraction or bodily movement by the actor

Question 2

An act is willed if…

Answer 2

the bodily movement was controlled by the mind of the actor.

Question 3

Omission

Answer 3

a person is not guilty of a crime for failing to act, even if such failure permits harm to occur to another unless they have a legal duty

Question 4

Result crime

Answer 4

the law punishes because of an unwanted outcome, such as the death of another person or the destruction of a dwelling house

Question 5

Conduct crime

Answer 5

• the law prohibits specific behavior, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or solicitation to commit murder
• Don’t require proof of any tangible harm

Question 6

Elements of actus reus

Answer 6

1. Voluntary act (omission substitutes for voluntary act when the defendant has a legal duty to act)
2. Social harm

Question 7

duty by status

Answer 7

A person has a common law duty to protect another with whom she has a special status relationship, typically, one based on dependency or interdependency, such as parent-to-child, spouse-to-spouse, and employer-to-employee.

Question 8

duty by voluntary assumption

Answer 8

One who voluntarily assumes the care of another must continue to assist if a subsequent omission would place the victim in a worse position than if the Good Samaritan had not assumed care at all.

Question 9

duty by risk creation

Answer 9

One who creates a risk of harm to another must thereafter act to prevent subsequent harm.

Question 10

Attendant circumstances

Answer 10

a condition that must be present, in conjunction with the prohibited act or result, to constitute a crime.

Question 11

Purposely

Answer 11

A person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense when:
1) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and
2) if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he believes or hopes that they exist

i.e Conscious objective to commit crime

Question 12

Knowingly

Answer 12

A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when:
1) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and
2) if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result

i.e., consciously aware, and practically certain crime could occur

Question 13

Recklessly

Answer 13

A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor’s conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor’s situation.

i.e., aware of the risk and substantially and unjustifiably disregards it

Question 14

Negligently

Answer 14

A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor’s failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of his conduct and the circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor’s situation.

i.e., unaware of the risk but should have been aware

Question 15

Transferred Intent Doctrine

Answer 15

A person acts “intentionally” (purposefully or knowingly) if the result of her conduct differs from that which she desired only in respect to the identity of the victim. it only matters that there was intent to hurt/kill a person

Question 16

strict-liability

Answer 16

commission of the actus reus of an offense, without proof of mens rea, its sufficient to convict the actor

Question 16

mistake of fact (specific-intent)

Answer 16

A defendant is not guilty of a specific-intent crime if their mistake of fact negates the specific-intent element of the offense (even if it is unreasonable mistake of fact )

Question 17

mistake of fact (general-intent)

Answer 17

A defendant is not guilty of a general-intent offense if her mistake of fact was reasonable. An unreasonable mistake of fact does not exculpate.

Question 18

A person acts knowingly regarding an attendant circumstance if…

Answer 18

1. is aware of the fact
2. correctly believes that the fact exists
3. suspects that the fact exists and purposefly avoids learning if her suspicion is correct <– wilful blindness