John.... I thought you might like to share this 'simplistic' definition of mens rea with your fellow "colleagues" for their input this evening, at the bar.....
Mens Rae - Definition:
"The concept of mens rea refers in law to the question of a mental act in a criminal case. According to the traditional principle, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means that "an act does not make a man guilty unless the mind is guilty. In other words, without the existence of a guilty intention, a person should not be found guilty of committing some crime - accidental acts are not to be regarded as criminal.
Although this seems reasonable, there are problems with it. How, for example, are we to treat people who commit crimes out of negligence, for example failing to stop at a stop sign because they did not see it? They are often given a fine and held responsible for that negligence, which would
seem to violate the above principle.
The question of intention is also often problematic. People are generally held responsible for an act which they did not intent so long as the consequences were foreseeable. Thus, a person who shoots a gun into a crowd can be found guilty of murder even though they can argue that they did not intend to kill anyone because the results, someone's death, were readily forseeable."
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babe:)) |
