Mens Rea

Question 1

Malice

Answer 1

The intent to cause social harm or reckless disregard of a high risk of harm.
-> Only requires a criminal act without excuse, justification or mitigation.
Applicable crimes include: murder and arson.

Question 2

Malice Aforethought

Answer 2

-Intent to kill
-Intent to inflict serious bodily harm
-Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life
-Intent to commit a dangerous felony

Question 3

Specific Intent

Answer 3

A subjective desire or objective to accomplish a prohibited result.
->Existence of specific intent can’t be confirmed from the mere doing of the act, the WAY the act was committed may provide circumstantial evidence of intent.

Question 4

Specific Intent: defenses

Answer 4

-Voluntary intoxication
-Unreasonable mistake of fact

Question 5

General Intent

Answer 5

Awareness of all factors constituting the crime.
-> Awareness of a high likelihood that they exist is sufficient.
-> Can be inferred from the act itself
-> Crime not subject to defense of voluntary intoxication or unreasonable mistake of fact

Question 6

Applicable crimes: general intent

Answer 6

any crime that is not a malice of specific intent crime
-Battery: the actor must be aware that they are applying force to another person, that causes either bodily harm or offense.

Question 7

Applicable crimes: specific intent

Answer 7

-attempt
-conspiracy
-solicitation
-premeditated murder
-assault
-robbery
-burglary
-theft offenses

Question 8

Transferred Intent

Answer 8

When a defendant acts with an intent to cause harm to one person or object and that act directly results in harm to another person or object, the defendant can be criminally liable for the harm caused.
- Foreseeability does NOT matter.
-ATTEMPTED crimes do NOT transfer.
-Intent will NOT transfer to a victim’s status.
-Any defenses that could be asserted against the intended victim transfer.

Question 9

Motive

Answer 9

The reason or explanation for the underlying crime
- Is generally not an element in substantive criminal law.
-will NEVER excuse a criminal act

Question 10

Intent

Answer 10

a state of mind required for some crimes.
-can be a necessary element for those crimes.
-Can be inferred from a motive

Question 11

Purposely

Answer 11

A person acts purposely when it is his conscious objective to engage in a certain conduct or cause a certain result.

Question 12

Attendant circumstances

Answer 12

The actor must be aware of such circumstances, or believe/hope they exist

Question 13

Knowingly

Answer 13

A person acts knowingly when he is aware of his conduct or that certain circumstances exist.
-> must be aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause a result.

Question 14

Recklessly

Answer 14

Conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or that a prohibited result will follow, and the disregard constitutes a gross deviation from a reasonable person’s standard of care.

Question 15

Negligently

Answer 15

Fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist, or a result will follow, and failure constitutes a substantial deviation from the standard of care.

Question 16

Willful Blindness Rule

Answer 16

An actor is deemed to be aware of attendant circumstances when he is aware of a high probability that they exist and deliberately avoids learning the truth.

Question 17

Strict Liability Offenses

Answer 17

Regulatory offenses that implicate public health or safety (public welfare or statutory rape)
-> do not require the state to prove mens rea.
-Mistake defenses do not apply
-Statutory silence as to mental state does not automatically create strict liability
-codified common law crimes (without expressed mental states) may be construed as having the common law mental state
-A criminal’s intent should be submitted to a jury for determination

Question 18

Mistake or Ignorance of the law

Answer 18

An actor’s subjective mistake or ignorance that his conduct is prohibited is not a defense to any type of crime.
Exceptions: reasonable reliance on the statute or judicial decision, even though the statute is later declared unconstitutional, or decision is overruled.

Question 19

Reasonable Mistake of Fact

Answer 19

Available to ANY crime

Question 20

Unreasonable Mistake of Fact

Answer 20

available to crimes of only specific intent