Culpability and Mens Rea Flashcards
What is Mens Rea?
-Guilty mind at the time of actus reus
What is criminal strict liability?
-A crime lacking mens rea
What factors justify strict liability?
- Public health and safety
- Low penalty
- No harm to reputation
- Notice
- Simple to prove with little discresion
What is the gradation of Mens Rea?
- Purposeful
- Knowingly
- Recklessly
- Negligently
Wulff
- Man selling migratory bird parts, charged with a felony
- The statute didn’t exist at common law, so there was no notice
Atkins
- Statute takes away Mens Rea for drug possession cases, taking away presumption of innocence
- Shift the burden of proof to the defendant
Lambert v. California
- Statute required felons register with LAPD
- Court holds this violates Due Process for lack of Mens Rea
- Ignorance of the law is not an excuse unless the statute is such a great departure that there is no notice
Renaldi
-Wanted to purchase a gun, but thought he had a misdemeanor, not a felony
What is the default level of culpability under the MPC?
-Recklessness
What is Purposeful?
-When there is conscious object to engage in conduct or produce a result
What is Knowing?
- When a person is aware that a person’s conduct or circumstances exist
- Can also be proven if a person is aware of the high probability of a conduct or circumstance’s existence
What is Reckless?
-When a person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or result will follow and the disregard is a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise
What is Negligent?
-Fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk
Elonis v. U. S.
- Man threatens ex-wife over Facebook
- Court holds that jury instruction for threat is improper and should include Mens Rea
U. S. v. Baker
- Man selling fake rolexes
- Knowing is was a lesser crime is not a defense to felony charges
Cheek v. U. S.
- Pilot tax evasion
- Believing a crime is unconstitutional does not excuse duty to obey the law
Montana v. Egelhoff
- Man drunkenly kills wife
- Voluntary intoxication can be instructed to the jury to determine mental state
What is Mistake of Law?
- A mistake of the laws by the defendant
- Can negate guilt if mistake shows defendant didn’t have mens rea
- Must be reasonable for a general or malice intent crime
- Not a defense for strict liability
- Is a defense when: insufficient notice, erroneous official pronouncement, and legal circumstance
What is Mistake of Fact?
- A mistake of the facts by the defendant
- Generally not a defense
- May negate intent
What are the elements of Mens Rea?
- Conduct
- Circumstance
- Outcome
What are the types of strict liability?
- Pure (all elements)
- Impure (one or more elements, but not all)
What is the general rule for Mens Rea in the MPC and Common law?
-Even if a statute lacks Mens Rea, we assume it is necessary element
What are the capacity rules under the MPC?
- If lack of capacity is relevant, it can be a defense
- Intoxication usually doesn’t count as a defense unless it’s involuntary
- Capacity defined by statute
What are element negating defenses?
- Mistake of Law
- Lack of Capacity
