Mens Rea (Culpable Mental State)

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Background

"Mens Rea", Latin for the term "guilty mind", is the legal requirement that a defendant must have some required mental state before she can be found guilty of a crime.


Knowledge

Intent

Recklessness

Negligence

Strict Liability Crimes

Transferred Intent

A defendant who acts with an intent to kill individual A but accidentally kills individual B may still be found guilty of murder with intent to kill under the theory of transferred intent. This doctrine is also explained as "intent follows the bullet". The defendant may not even have to be aware the actual victim existed. Thus, the doctrine typically applies when a defendant fires a weapon at an intended victim and that bullet penetrates a nearby apartment, killing an actual victim. Transferred intent will generally apply to any case in which the required state of mind is either intent or knowledge. However, if the crime is committed with recklessless or negligence, the doctrine is not as clearly established. In these cases, the defense should argue that the doctrine either does not apply, or that a close connection between the intended and actual victim should be proven by the prosecution.