1. Class Name, Instructor Name
Schmalleger/Hall, Criminal Law Today, 5th edition
Chapter 2: Criminal Liability and the Essence of Crime
Class Name, Instructor Name
Date, Semester

2. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
2.1
Describe the legal essence of criminal conduct.
2.2
Explain actus reus and what constitutes a criminal act.
2.3
Explain mens rea and the different types of intent.
Describe strict liability offenses, and explain why some crimes are punished solely on the basis of strict liability.
2.4
Summarize concurrence, and describe how concurrence relates to mens rea and actus reus.
2.5

3. Describe the legal essence of criminal conduct.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
2.1
Describe the legal essence of criminal conduct.

4. The Legal Essence of Criminal Conduct
2.1
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.

5. The Legal Essence of Criminal Conduct
2.1
The Legal Essence of Criminal Conduct
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.

6. The Legal Essence of Criminal Conduct
2.1
The Legal Essence of Criminal Conduct
There are three essential aspects of all crimes:
Concurrenceof the two
The
Criminal Act
(actus reus)
Culpable
Mental State
(mens rea)

7. The essence of criminal conduct
2.1
The essence of criminal conduct

8. Explain actus reus and what constitutes a criminal act.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
2.2
Explain actus reus and what constitutes a criminal act.

9. 2.2
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.”

10. 2.2 The Criminal Act Failure to Act
Thoughts and beliefs alone are not acts
Being or status alone are not scts
Possession is an act
Failure to Act
Generally, failing to act isn’t criminal.
Exceptions exist, such as failure to report child abuse and sexual assault, failing to file tax return, and failing to report a human corpse.

11. 2.2
The Criminal Act
First Amendment Free Speech Clause protects expression, even if it is considered an act.
Exceptions:
Speech that creates a clear and present danger
Speech that is likely to incite violence
Slander and libel
Obscenity and child pornography

12. Explain mens rea and the different types of intent.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
2.3
Explain mens rea and the different types of intent.

13. 2.3 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.”

14. 2.3
Mens rea v. Motive
Mens rea concerns a person’s statement of mind in regards to the criminal act, while motive refers to the reason a person chose to act.
For example, whether or not a person intended to cause the death of her victim is a mens rea question. The reason she may have wanted her victim to die (e.g., to collect on a life insurance policy) is a motive.
As a matter of law, mens rea must be proven for a conviction. Motive does not have to be proven.
As a practical matter, a prosecutor may need to prove motive to a jury to obtain a conviction.

15. 2.3
Evolution of the Idea
At the common law, two forms of mens rea were recognized: general intent and specific intent.
Over time, the understanding of mental states underlying crimes became more sophisticated and additional forms of mens rea developed.
Today the Model Penal Code’s mens rea scheme is dominant.

16. 2.3
Four types of mens rea

17. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
2.4
Describe strict liability offenses, and explain why some crimes are punished solely on the basis of strict liability.

18. Strict Liability and Mens Rea
2.4
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 philosophically based on the presumption that causing harm is in itself blameworthy, regardless of the actor’s intent.

19. When Statutes Are Silent on Mens Rea
2.4
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 embedded 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.

20. 2.4
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.

21. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
2.5
Summarize concurrence, and describe how concurrence relates to mens rea and actus reus.

22. 2.5
Concurrence
Mens Rea
Actus Reus
Concurrence

23. 2.5 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.
Mens rea must precede,
if only by a moment, and
concur with the actus reus.

24. CHAPTER 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.
2.1
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.
2.2

25. CHAPTER 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.
2.3
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.
2.3

26. CHAPTER SUMMARY
Strict 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.
2.4
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.
2.5