Mens Rea Cont (mistake, Insanity) Terms

Question 1

Mens rea defenses

Answer 1

Failure of proof = not all elements proved BRD (ex: mistake of law or fact)

Offense modification = all elements met but now pulling back (ex: abandonment or renunciation)

Justifications = did crime but avoiding another evil that would’ve resulted in greater harm (ex: self defense)

Excuses = person has some sort of condition/disability that excuses them from committing crime (ex: intoxication, insanity, duress)

Non-exculpatory defenses = crime had a more important policy reason not to prosecute (SoL, memories faded, witnesses unavailable)

Question 2

Mistake of law v. Ignorance of law

Answer 2

Mistake = someone who misinterprets law **usually OK
- mistake lacks requisite intent because “not the intent to violate the law but the intentional doing the act which is a violation of law” which is proscribed

Ignorance = doesn’t know he’s acting unlawfully
- unlikely to impact mens rea

Doesnt matter whether ignorance or mistake; fact or law—we care if (1) it negates mens rea ; and (2) statute provides for mistake

Question 3

Insanity defense

Answer 3

Admits the action, but asserts a lack of culpability based on mental illness

Being criminally insane does NOT mean he’s suffering from a mental disorder

Criminal liability isn’t a medical diagnosis, but a legal standard

Question 4

Insanity incapacities

Answer 4

Cognitive = illness that makes him unable to understand (describe, appreciate) what he’s doing

Moral = illness makes him unable to understand that his actual was wrongful (moral? Illegal?)

Volitional = unable to control his actions (not free will)

Question 5

MPC’s substantial capacity test

Answer 5

Person not responsible if from mental defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate criminality (wrongfulness) of conduct or conform his conduct to the requirements of law

Question 6

Insanity tests: M’Naghten

Answer 6

While commuting act, accused had disease of mind as
1. not to know nature & quality of act (cognitive)
2. Or if he did know, he did not know what he was doing was wrong (moral)

Moral capacity has become legal capacity = whether could understand his act was illegal

Broadened cognitive with irresistible impulse test = people understand what’s happening in the world and mental disease prevents them from controlling their actions
- M’Naghten critiqued this as unrealistic and unscientific by not accounting for volition