Mens Rea 1 Flashcards
Mens rea means ___
guilty mind/intent to do the harm in the statute
Mens rea is a way of ___
passing judgment on person’s character (in that moment)
Common law mens rea has ____ terms that have ___
wide variety, no necessary relationship to each other
MPC four mental states
(1) purpose (2) knowingly (3) recklessly (4) negligently
If no mens rea element specified in MPC statute then ___ is sufficient to prove mental state
reckless
Morissette facts
M took bomb casings and sold for profit thinking they were abandoned
Morissette statute
whoever..knowingly converts govt property is punishable
Why is mens rea debated in Morissette
common law statute doesn’t explain what “knowingly” means or what intent is required
Morissette holding
Presume mens rea, court must determine if strict liability statute
Morissette says that only ____ may have strict liability
public welfare offenses with regulatory purposes (traffic violations)
Morisette reasoning
(1) even though statute silent on mental element there is need for criminal intent (2) if every time omission of mens rea meant dispensing with it then every crime would be strictly liable (3) stealing common law crime which always had intent requirement
Regina facts
D stole a gas meter didn’t turn off the gas and partially asphyxiated someone
Regina holding
maliciousness doesn’t mean wickedness it means either
(1) Actual intention to do the particular harm done (MPC purpose)
OR
(2) reckless disregard that harm will occur or not (MPC recklessness)
Regina represents a transition from thinking about mens rea as ___ to ____
moral fault, element of a crime (tied to harm in statute)
A person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense when the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof if it is his ____ OR if the element involves the attendant circumstances he is _____
conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result, aware of the existence of such circumstances and he believes/hopes they exist
A person acts knowingly with respect to material element when element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is _____and if the element involves a result of his conduct he is ____
aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist, aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result
A person acts recklessly with respect to material element when he _____
consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct
For recklessness and negligence, the risk must be of such a nature and a degree that … it involves a ___
gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law abiding person would observe in the actor’s position
A person acts negligently … when he _____
should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct
technical label for mens rea of murder
malice aforethought
Malice aforethought constitutes murder in these four scenarios
(1) intent to kill
(2) intent to commit serious bodily injury
(3) depraved heart
(4) felony murder rule applies
what is felony murder rule
killing that occurs during commission of a felony is considered murder regardless of intent to kill
what is homicide
killing another human being
what is manslaughter
criminal homicide with reduced culpability
MPC manslaughter scenarios
(1) committed recklessly (but not extreme indifference of depraved heart)
(2) homicide otherwise murder committed under influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse
First degree murder in MPC
(1) murder involved premeditation and deliberation AND committed by means specified in the statute OR felony murder
what is premeditation in MPC
killer reflected upon and thought about killing in advance (no required length of time)
what is deliberation in the MPC
quality of D’s thought process, deliberate when undertaken with level head
examples of partial defenses
provocation, imperfect self-defense, diminished capacity
Mental state is presumed to apply to ______
all material elements of the crime unless otherwise specified
general intent
require intent to do the actus reus without reference to intent to do a further act or achieve a future consequence
specific intent
require D to intend to commit an act AND intend to cause a particular result when committing the act
Sometimes court will say specific intent when they really ____
just mean intent
Every crime must have ____ but not every crime needs ___
mens rea and conduct, result requirement
how short can deliberation be
some courts say 1 second or blink of an eye
Why not create a general rule for how long deliberation can be and then sort at sentencing?
prediction issue for the system, need to constrain judges discretion so need a standard to prevent inconsistent outcomes
Why not let jury decide how long deliberation can be?
juries don’t have variety of cases to draw on so need standard as guidance
Gentry facts
G poured gasoline on girlfriend. She walked near stove and caught on fire. He testified they were both drunk and that it was an accident
Gentry holding
Acquitted. Specific intent to kill required to sustain a conviction for attempted murder
Gentry reasoning
(1) specific intent means purpose (2) purpose in homicide context means goal to kill the person, knowledge death/serious harm may occur is insufficient
How does Gentry show the power of mens rea?
G did something wrong but acquitted because he didn’t have specific intent to kill
Intentional killing is a pre-MPC term that referred to ___ but MPC decided ___
both purpose and knowing, intent only for purpose
Holloway facts
H and accomplice approached car, drew a gun and threatened to shoot unless driver handed over keys. Wanted to steal cars without causing harm but would’ve used the gun if the driver had “given him a hard time”
Holloway holding
Conditional intent satisfies mens rea, Govt can demonstrate D had purpose to kill if had conditional intent to kill
Holloway reasoning
doesn’t need to be intent to cause harm no matter what
Scalia Holloway dissent
Conditional intent not same thing as intent, conditional intent not in the statute
Provocation is a form of __
voluntary manslaughter
Provocation can mitigate ___
an intentional killing from murder to manslaughter
One who kills in response to adequate provocation has acted ______ even though __-
without malice aforethought, still acted with intent to kill or seriously injure
For provocation, defendant’s culpability is mitigated due to____ not ____
cultural sympathy with their loss of self-control, actual absence of malice aforethought
Villella facts
D stabbed wife to death some time after heated argument and wanted to introduce evidence she was having an affair
Villella holding
evidence of affair admissible to establish heat of passion defense
Villella reasoning
Reasonable person test
Villella dissent
supposed to be sudden provocation
Provocation is an event that would ___
make a reasonable person behave unreasonably
three approaches to voluntary manslaughter
(1) common law categorical (2) legal provocation (3) modern reasonable person test
For legal provocation approach, mere words ___
are not enough
For reasonable person approach, mere words ___
can be included
Problems with reasonable person standard
(1) does RP ever kill in heat of passion (2) being fair to the individual may mean losing objective standard
For reasonable person consider characteristics relating to defendant’s ___ rather than ___
powers of judgment and self control (age), physical or demographic characteristics
MPC approach to voluntary manslaughter does not say ___
need to be sudden provocation, very broad
MPC approach to voluntary manslaughter about ___
reasonableness of psych state not about types of provocation that count
Why might categories approach to voluntary manslaughter be good?
narrow types of cases defendant can claim exclusion for
Example of knowingly
trying to bomb one target but know civilians in the area will die
