Mens Rea Element

Question 1

Mens rea

what is it?

Answer 1

1. State of mind of the defendant when committing the crime

Guilty Mind is required (except in rare cases of strict liability)

Question 2

Strict Liability Doctrine

what is it?

Answer 2

· No culpable mental state at all must be shown – it is enough that D performed the act in question, regardless of his mental state.
§ So it does not matter that D is not aware the offense is a SL crime

Question 3

Formal Strict Liability (FSL)

what is it?

Answer 3

liability without a culpable mental state with respect to the actus reus

Question 4

Do majority of crimes fall under FSL?

Answer 4

yes!

Question 5

FSL Pure Strict Liability

what is it?

Answer 5

§ Liability without any culpable mental state with respect to any objective element

Question 6

FSL Impure Strict Liability

Answer 6

§ Liability without any culpable mental state with respect to at least one such element

Question 7

Tip for SL offense with absent mens rea

Answer 7

if you don’t see any mens rea in the definition, don’t assume it is a strict liability crime

but make sure to know mens rea by default is reuired unless facts show law is strict liability

Question 8

MPC Strict Liability Exception

on what they would label the offense?

Answer 8

provides that the voluntary act and mens rea requirements need not apply to offenses graded as “violations” rather than “crimes.”

Question 9

Public welfare offenses –> malum prohibitum

what is it?

Answer 9

wrong because we (society/law) prohibits it (not necessarily immoral)

Question 10

Public welfare offenses Factors to weigh

Answer 10

§ 1. Public welfare offense are not derived from the common law

§ 2. A single violation of such an offense can simultaneously injure a great number of people
§ Ex. your dad places a gun in your backpack and you ride off in your backpack unlicenced–> posed danger to public safety even if you didn’t have knowledge about the gun

§ 3. Standard imposed by the statute is reasonable

§ 4. Penalty for the violation is minor

5. Conviction rarely damages the D’s rep

Question 11

Nonpublic welfare offenses –> malum in se

Answer 11

crime that is inherently immoral/evil (usually stigmatized crimes and more severe punishment)
Unique
Ex. Statutory Rape- does not require any element of D’s knowledge of female being underage.

Question 12

Malum In Se dealing with Strict Liability

Answer 12

§ Malum in Se crimes have ALWAYS required a mental state—stealing is a common law, malum in se crime. The state can’t remove this requirement and make an offense a strict liability without notice

Question 13

Mistake of Fact (MofF)

CL rule

Answer 13

A D who is in the act of committing a felony cannot also be found guilty for any accidental collateral act that would constitute another felony
o bc D didn’t have knowledge that committing one felony also imputes the knowledge req onto the accidental collateral act

Question 14

MofF CL rule on constructive knowledge

Answer 14

D’s Willful ignorance is the same as having constructive knowledge

that is to act knowingly is to also act with an awareness of the high probability of the existence of the fact in question.

Question 15

MofF CL rule on Mof as an excuse

Answer 15

at CL, mistake of fact is not an excuse in a strict liability crime but in crimes requiring intent can be excused if it disproves any element of the requisite mens rea

Question 16

MofF CL rule on excusing MofF

Answer 16

mistake of fact can be an excused if every mens rea element in a crime is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt

ex. D must have knowledge that the unknown material D possesses is what prosecution is trying to prove on D–>but if prosecution can’t prove D knew of the material possessed–>then D is excused

Question 17

MofF CL rule on req of awareness of committing crime

Answer 17

Criminal statutes generally include a requirement that a person is aware that he or she is committing a crime, even if the statute does not explicitly contain such a mens rea requirement

Question 18

Mistake of Law (MofL)

what is it

Answer 18

Rule: generally, a mistake of the law is no excuse (Baker rule)

However, there is a very small category of exceptions

Question 19

MofL

CL Lambert exception

Answer 19

· 1. Law criminalizes
o 1) only wholly passive conduct AND
§ Failing or doing something that should or shouldn’t have been done
o 2) the law is not widely known
o The law must afford notice to D of their required legal duty

That is an omission crime requiring the prosecution to prove actual knowledge of the legal duty violated and if there was no actual knowledge –> there is no crime

Question 20

MofL

CL Twitchell exception

Answer 20

· 2. OR there is reasonable reliance on an official interpretation of the law
Requires that the interpretation was actually reasonably

Question 21

MPC 2.04 (1)(a) MofL rule

Answer 21

MofL is only a defense if the ignorance or mistake negates the purpose, knowledge, belief, recklessness, or negligence required to establish a material element of the offense.
§ We do not want to reward ignorance or create incentives for ignorance.
§ But in very small categories, we will make an exception for ignorance of the law.
§ General statement “mistake of the law is no excuse” means that once the state has proven the mental element of the offense –> mistake of law is not an excuse

Question 22

MofL CL Rule on knowledge req

Answer 22

crim law does not require knowledge that an act is illegal, wrong, or blameworthy;
· two different types of defenses can be raised but does not acquit D

(1) Δ lacks mental state required for offense and
(2) Δ had mental state but is unaware that conduct is criminal

Question 23

MofL CL Rule on your status and knowledge req

Answer 23

when meet all the remaining elements of offense but you as the D were not aware if you knew you by your status of the offense had the knowledge req to commit the offense–>then you cannot be found guilty

Question 24

MofL CL rule on failing to follow the law but you lacked the knowledge

Answer 24

when you fail to register or follow a law because you were unaware/lacked the knowledge you needed to follow the law–>you cannot be found guilty

Question 25

MofL CL rule on advice from public official

Answer 25

advice from public official is no excuse; when Δ is aware of the statute and set out to do exactly what he intended to do–>he cannot raise MofL as defense

Question 26

MofL CL rule on whether you reasonably believe the law is valid or not…

Answer 26

When the law mandates a certain duty that you must abide by the law–> and you had knowledge of the law whether you reasonably believed the law is valid or not–>one knew they had a duty and ignored the law–> will be found guilty

Question 27

MofL CL rule on reliance on official interpretation of the law

(exception)

Answer 27

When the D is misled by the official interpretation of the law that was given by an official representative of the law–> thus D did not have knowledge intent of committing the crime
· To make an official statement of law–> must be given/published to the public, not privately given

Ex. local district attorney gives interpretation off the clock in a non-challant way to the D

Question 28

MofL CL rule on reliance even in good faith

Answer 28

Mistake in reliance even in good faith belief will still not be an excuse
· (minority rule in few states)