1. Chapter 2 Criminal Liability and the Essence of Crime

2. OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Identify the three fundamental aspects of crime.
Define actus reus, and describe its basic elements.
Expound upon the concept of mens rea, and describe the different levels or types of mens rea under the common law and the Model Penal Code.
Describe strict liability offenses, and explain why some crimes are punished solely on the basis of strict liability.
Describe how concurrence relates to mens rea and actus reus.

3. THE LEGAL ESSENCE OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT
From the perspective of Western jurisprudence all crimes can be said to share certain features, or elements, and the notion of crime itself can be said to rest on such general principles.
Taken together, these features compose the legal essence of the concept of crime.
They are referred to in legal parlance as the elements of crime and describe the most essential aspects of criminal conduct.
All crimes can be said to have these general elements in one form or another.
They may be defined by statute in various ways, depending on the jurisdiction.

4. THE LEGAL ESSENCE OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT
There are three essential aspects of all crimes:
The criminal act (which, in legal parlance, is termed the actus reus)
A culpable mental state (mens rea)
A concurrence of the two

5. THE LEGAL ESSENCE OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT
FIGURE 2–1 The Essence of Criminal Conduct.

6. THE CRIMINAL ACT
Generally, a person must commit some act before being subject to criminal sanctions, and a necessary first feature of most crimes is some act in violation of the law.
Such an act is termed the actus reus of a crime.
The term (which, like much other legal terminology, is Latin) means a “guilty act.”

7. THE CRIMINAL ACT Thinking Is Not Doing Being Is Not Doing
Voluntary Acts
Possession
Failure to Act
Threatening to Act

8. STATE OF MIND Mens rea is the second general element of crime.
The term, which literally means “guilty mind,” refers to the specific mental state of the defendant at the time of the crime.
The importance of mens rea as a component of crime cannot be overemphasized, which can be seen in the fact that some courts have held that “[a]ll crime exists primarily in the mind.”
At the common law, two forms of mens rea were recognized: general intent and specific intent.

9. STATE OF MIND
FIGURE 2–2 Types of Mens Rea.

10. STATE OF MIND Strict Liability and Mens Rea
A special category of crimes, called strict liability crimes requires no culpable mental state and presents a significant exception to the principle that all crimes require a conjunction of action and mens rea.
Strict liability offenses (also called “absolute liability offenses”) make it a crime simply to do something, even if the offender has no intention of violating the law or causing the resulting harm.
Strict liability is based philosophically on the presumption that causing harm is in itself blameworthy, regardless of the actor’s intent.

11. STATE OF MIND When Statutes Are Silent on Mens Rea
Some statutes are altogether silent on mens rea.
Because strict liability crimes are not favored by some legal scholars, courts will usually make an effort to determine if a mens rea requirement is imbedded in the statute.
To accomplish this, courts have to interpret the statute.
There are many interpretation rules, or canons of construction, that are used to guide courts in criminal cases.

12. STATE OF MIND Insanity and Mens Rea
The ability to form a statute’s requisite mens rea can be prevented or hindered by mental illness.
Indeed, the insanity defense is a mens rea defense.
As a defense, insanity has many forms, and special rules regulate its use.
For the moment, be aware that insanity as a mens rea defense refers to the defendant’s state of mind at the time the act occurred. Insanity at the time of trial is a different matter.

13. CONCURRENCE
The concurrence of an unlawful act and a culpable mental state provides the third fundamental aspect of crime.
Concurrence requires that the act and the mental state occur together in order for a crime to take place.
If one precedes the other, the requirements of the criminal law are not met.

14. SUMMARY
The legal essence of crime consists of three essential elements: actus reus (an act in violation of the law), mens rea (a guilty mind), and the concurrence of the two. Some scholars suggest that another four elements are also inherent in the concept of crime: causation, a resulting harm, the principle of legality, and necessary attendant circumstances. In contrast to the elements common to all crimes, particular offenses are statutorily defined in terms of specific statutory elements. To convict a defendant of a given crime, prosecutors must prove to a judge or jury that all of the statutory elements of a crime are present. If even one statutory element of an offense cannot be established beyond a reasonable doubt, criminal liability will not have been demonstrated, and the defendant will be found not guilty.

15. SUMMARY
To be something is not a crime, but to do something may be. For purposes of the criminal law, the word act means a performance, a deed, or a movement, as distinguished from remaining at rest.

16. SUMMARY
Degrees of culpability, or types of mens rea, can be distinguished. At the common law, the distinction between specific and general intent was important. Today, the four most commonly specified levels of culpability are purposeful, knowing, reckless, and negligent. It is important to note that mens rea is not the same thing as motive. A motive refers to a person’s reason for committing a crime. Mens rea refers to the offender’s mental state at the time the crime was committed. Strict liability offenses, which are based on the presumption that causing harm is in itself blameworthy, represent an exception to general understandings of the nature of crime since they require no accompanying culpable mental state.

17. SUMMARY
The concurrence of an unlawful act and a culpable mental state provides the third fundamental aspect of crime. Concurrence requires that the act and the mental state occur together in order for a crime to take place.