mens rea
Criminal intent required
Mens rea is the legal term for criminal intent—the guilty mind required to establish that someone committed a crime knowingly or purposefully.
Most serious crimes require proving both mens rea (mental state) and actus reus (the criminal act itself).
A person who accidentally causes harm may lack mens rea: The prosecution couldn't establish mens rea because she genuinely believed the goods were hers.
Advance planning of action
- malice aforethoughtPrior intent to harm
- willfulnessIntentional resistance to direction
- purposeReason something exists
- volitionCapacity for choice
forethought · calculation · design · guilty mind · animus · motivation · scheming · plotting
Deserving moral condemnation
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
recklessness · criminal negligence · gross negligence · depraved indifference · moral turpitude · wrongfulness · fault · accountability
Advance planning of action
- forethoughtPlanning before acting
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- planningArranging for future events
- reflectionReturned light or thought
contemplation · purposefulness · cold blood · lying in wait · cooling-off period · thoughtfulness · aforethought
Statutes defining punishable offenses
- strict liabilityLegal responsibility without fault
- malice aforethoughtPrior intent to harm
- concurrenceState of agreeing
- diminished capacityImpaired mental functioning
insanity defense · irresistible impulse · entrapment · automatism
State of perceiving reality
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- willful blindnessConscious avoidance of knowledge
- cognizanceState of knowing something
- understandingMental comprehension of something
realization · perception · comprehension · notice · foreseeability · appreciation · discernment · recognition
premeditation
Advance planning of action
- malice aforethoughtPrior intent to harm
- willfulnessIntentional resistance to direction
- purposeReason something exists
volition · forethought · calculation · design · guilty mind · animus · motivation · scheming · plotting · planning
blameworthiness
Deserving moral condemnation
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
negligence · recklessness · criminal negligence · gross negligence · depraved indifference · moral turpitude · wrongfulness · fault · accountability · criminal responsibility
premeditation
Advance planning of action
- forethoughtPlanning before acting
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- planningArranging for future events
reflection · contemplation · purposefulness · cold blood · lying in wait · cooling-off period · thoughtfulness · aforethought
criminal law
Statutes defining punishable offenses
- strict liabilityLegal responsibility without fault
- malice aforethoughtPrior intent to harm
- concurrenceState of agreeing
diminished capacity · insanity defense · irresistible impulse · entrapment · automatism
awareness
State of perceiving reality
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- willful blindnessConscious avoidance of knowledge
- cognizanceState of knowing something
understanding · realization · perception · comprehension · notice · foreseeability · appreciation · discernment · recognition
- lawlaw, lawyer, lawyers, attorney, attorneys
- criminal lawcrime, felony, misdemeanor, murder, robbery
- international lawinternational law, treaty, treaties, conventions, protocols
- Latin Legal Termsbona fide, caveat emptor, de facto, de jure, in absentia
- Legal Latinab initio, bona fide, caveat emptor, certiorari, de facto
- legalesehereby, herein, hereinafter, hereof, hereto
mens reainnocence
Freedom from wrongdoing
blamelessness · strict liability · accident · involuntariness · automatism
intend, intent, mental, intended, mentality, intentional, mentally, intentionally, intends