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Understanding Mens Rea, Actus Reus, and the Basic Elements of a Crime

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Understanding Mens Rea, Actus Reus, and the basic elements of a crime

The mental state, also called mens rea, refers to the guilty state of mind of the defendant. The thoughts and intentions of the defendant when the crime was committed effect the outcome of the case. The motive of the crime can determine if the prosecution seeks to try the defendant in criminal or civil court. Mens Rea has four states of mind: purposeful, knowing, reckless, and negligent.

A purposeful act occurs when the defendant intends to commit a crime with an intended result. The defendant is fully aware of the possible outcome of his act and intends to achieve a specific result. For example:

Jerry set fire to his ex-wife’s home with the intention of killing her. In his testimony to the police, Jerry admitted that he was completely aware of the result and acted with purpose. The state prosecuted Jerry in criminal court, where the judge convicted him of first-degree murder.

A knowing act differs from a purposeful act in that the defendant intended to cause harm, knowing what the result would be, but did not act toward a specific individual. For example:

Denise set off a bomb in a crowded, public place, without having a specific victim in mind. She knew the result of her crime could end with the death of at least one person, but she had no specific victim in mind when planting the bomb.

A reckless act occurs when the defendant is careless and unsure of the result to follow. For example:

A large corporation has plans to tear down a park to make room for a new strip mall. Appalled at this, Skyla takes a stand by sabotaging the equipment of the corporation. She carefully plants bombs on the construction equipment late at night when no one would be there to use them. That night the bombs went off, killing a security guard

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