Mental Fault

Elements of a Crime: Mental Fault

Introduction to Mental Fault

To be guilty of a crime, the person must also have had the intent to act in a harmful way. This element is sometimes called the requirement of mental fault or mens rea, a Latin term that means “guilty mind.” Thus, many crimes are defined in terms of intentionally, knowingly, maliciously, willfully, recklessly, or negligently acting or bringing about a result, or of conducting oneself with intent to accomplish a specified consequence. The mens rea requirement distinguishes between inadvertent or accidental acts and acts for which a person is criminally liable.

Generally, a person must have intended the actual harm that in fact resulted-that is, there is no criminal liability unless the criminal act and the required intent concur. Thus it is not murder if a man desires to kill his brother and, while driving to the store to purchase a gun for this purpose, accidentally runs over and kills his brother who happens to be crossing the street. On the other hand, if one intends harm to a particular person or object and, in attempting to carry out that intent, causes a similar harm to another person or object, one’s intent will be transferred from the target person or object to the person or object actually harmed. For example, if a woman shoots at a man with the intent to kill him but, due to poor aim, misses the man and hits and kills a child nearby, the shooter’s intent to kill the man is transferred to the child and the woman is liable for the child’s murder.

In recent years, there has been a tendency to depart from the basic premise of criminal law requiring a specific mental state (intent) and to define statutory crimes providing for criminal liability without intent to cause harm. In the case of these so-called strict-liability offenses, the offender’s mental state is irrelevant. Laws against serving alcohol to minors or against mislabeling food and drug products are typical examples of strict-liability statutes.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Mental Fault in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Mental Fault

In this Section

Criminal Law Elements (including Wrongful Act and Mental Fault), Defenses to Crimes (including Insanity, Age, Intoxication, Duress, Mistake, Self-Defense and Entrapment) and Crime Parties (including Principals

and Accessories).