Ingredients of a Crime

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Ingredients of a Crime

• Officer Marc S. Gray

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Objectives

• ?Upon completion of this lesson, the student (s)
  will be able to
• (1) identify the major components of a crime
• (2) explain the causation requirement
• (3) contrast Mens Rea and Actus Reus, and
• (4) define general and specific intent

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Ingredients of a Crime

• As has been discussed, one of the major problems
  faced in defining crime is the fact that it is a
  relative term one which changes according to
  time, circumstances, and place.
• Crime is also a legal term.
• As a result, there is no uniform legal definition
  of specific crimes in the United States, since
  the determination of what constitutes a crime
  rests with individual jurisdictions.

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Ingredients of a Crime

• Therefore, the federal government and each of
  states has its own body of criminal statutes
  which define specific crimes.
• Thus, crime definition and the punishments
  mandated for them vary from state to state and
  jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

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Ingredients of a Crime

• Although the specific definition of crimes vary,
  every definition specifies that, in order for a
  crime to occur, an act or omission must
• (1) be a legal wrong
• (2) prohibited by criminal law
• (3) prosecuted by the state
• (4) in a formal court proceeding, and
• (5) for which a criminal sanction or sentence may
  be imposed.

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Ingredients of a Crime

• Another important aspect of criminal law is that
  a crime can only occur if certain necessary
  ingredients or elements are met.
• In order to prove that a crime occurred and that
  it was committed by a specific person or persons,
  it is necessary that the corpis delecti be
  established by the prosecution.
• Corpus Delecti literally means the body of the
  crime.
• This means that the essential ingredients that
  establish the act as a crime must be present.

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Ingredients of a Crime

• Criminal Law in the United States recognizes the
  existence of the same common ingredients or
  elements in every criminal act, regardless of
  jurisdiction.
• These ingredients are interrelated and, in order
  for an act or omission to be considered a crime,
  all of the elements must be present.
• Most jurists and other professionals in the field
  of criminal justice agree that there are seven
  essential ingredients or elements that must be
  present in order for a crime to have been
  committed by an accused offender.

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Ingredients of a Crime

• These ingredients or requirements are
• (1) legality
• (2) actus reus or the act itself
• (3) harm
• (4) causation
• (5) mens rae or intent
• (6) concurrence
• (7) punishment

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Ingredients of a Crime

• It is important to remember that, in order for a
  crime to be committed, all of these seven
  ingredients must be present.
• If the defense can prove in a trial that any one
  requirement is absent, such as intent, then the
  accused is innocent because a crime had not been
  committed.

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The Legality Requirement

• The concept that a crime is a legal definition of
  prohibited behavior or omission has been
  discussed in previous lessons.
• The legality ingredient of a crime is based on
  the principle that a human behavior cannot be
  classified as a crime if a law does not exist
  that defines that act as a legally prohibited
  offense.
• This is an ancient understanding of law and in
  Latin is referred to as nullum crimen sine lege
  or no crime without law.

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The Legality Requirement

• Legality is one of the most important and
  cherished concepts in American Law.
• A very important aspect of the legality
  requirement of crime is that people cannot be
  expected to obey a rule that does not already
  exist in law.
• As a result, the nations criminal justice system
  is only interested in those acts which are
  specifically forbidden by the penal code(s).
• An act must be legally forbidden in order for it
  to be a crime.

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The Legality Requirement

• Another aspect of the legality ingredient is the
  concept that the legislature cannot create a law
  today which holds people responsible for
  something they did or did not do yesterday.
• In other words, it is impossible to require
  people to obey a law which does not exist.
• Further, the penalty for a crime cannot be
  retroactively changed.
• Therefore, criminal laws are only binding on
  people form the date that they become effective.

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The Legality Requirement

• Laws which attempt to either make an act illegal
  at a later date or which retroactively increase
  the definition and penalty for a crime are called
  ex post facto laws.
• The Latin term ex post facto means after the
  fact.
• Article 1, Section 9 and 10 of the Constitution
  specifically prohibit federal and state
  governments from enacting ex post facto laws.

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The Legality Requirement

• The ex post facto clause of the Constitution
  specifically forbids the following
• (1) creating a criminal law and making it
  retroactive so as to make behavior before the
  enactment of the law a criminal offense.
• (2) laws aggregate or increase a crime
  retroactively, such as making a misdemeanor
  offense a felony retroactively
• (3) laws that increase the punishment for a crime
  retroatively
• (4) laws that change the legal rules of evidence
  and permit conviction on less or different
  evidence and testimony that the law required at
  the time of the commission of the offense.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• A basic premise or concept of criminal law is
  that, in order for a crime to have been a crime
  to have been committed, a person must perform an
  act or omission which is a violation of a law.
• Therefore, the human act is one of the most
  essential ingredients of a crime.
• The concept of the act requirement is very old
  and can be traced to the actus reus, which
  legally means the guilty act.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Criminal law describes what specifically
  constitutes the physical act or omission of every
  defined criminal act.
• The physical act which a violation of the
  criminal statute defines for every crime is
  contained in the jurisdictions penal code.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• For example, the Texas Penal Code (19.04) states
  that a person commits manslaughter if he
  recklessly causes the death of an individual.
• The definition of manslaughter, therefore,
  requires a physical act by an offender, that is
  recklessly causing the death of another.
• Thus, unless a person recklessly caused the death
  of another, that individual cannot be charged and
  prosecuted for manslaughter.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Another aspect of actus reus is that there is a
  distinction between an act and a status or a
  condition.
• An individual cannot constitutionally be
  penalized for having a condition, such as being
  an alcoholic or a drug user.
• Under the American system of law, in order for a
  person to a criminal, he/she must do something
  criminal that is, the offender must commit a
  criminal act.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Although the actus reus requirement appears to be
  rather clear, there are certain circumstances
  where a crime can be committed when an actual
  forbidden act has not occurred.
• For example, most jurisdictions define
  omission, or the failure to act when legally
  required to do so, as a crime.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• The following provides a brief summary of those
  special circumstances in which a crime can occur
  without a criminal act actually being committed.
• Omission- A person can commit a crime in a
  situation in which he/she is required by law to
  act and that person does not do so. Child
  neglect is an example of criminal omission.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Threat- Threatening to commit a criminal act can
  be a crime in and of itself. The federal
  government and most states define as a crime the
  act of communicating threats. For example, an
  individual who threatens in words or writing the
  Presidents life has committed a crime.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Attempt- If a person attempts to commit a crime,
  but is unsuccessful in that attempt, that
  individual is guilty of attempting a criminal
  activity. Therefore, a planned act that was
  attempted, but not accomplished, is a crime.
  (ie. The Texas Penal Code 15.05 states a
  person commits an offense if, with specific
  intent to commit an offense, he does an act
  amounting to more than mere preparation that
  tends but fails to effect the commission of the
  offense intended.

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The Act or Ingredient or Actus Reus

• Conspiracy- Conspiracy is the crime of agreeing
  with another to join together for the purpose of
  committing a crime. The legal term conspiracy
  also means agreeing to use illegal means to
  commit an act which would otherwise be lawful.
  In a conspiracy, the unlawful act does not have
  to be attempted or successfully completed in
  order for a crime to have occurred. For example,
  if two persons conspire to kill a third person
  and purchase the gun and ammunition required to
  commit homicide, they have committed the crime of
  conspiracy.

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The Harm Requirement

• The purpose of every criminal statute is to deter
  or prevent something forbidden or evil from
  occurring that is, to prevent harm.
• Therefore, all crimes are defined as requiring
  the element of potential harm.
• For example, homicide is legally forbidden
  because society does not want its citizens to
  kill other people without just cause.

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The Harm Requirement

• Most crimes are grouped together in penal codes
  in accordance with the type and potential harm
  which each crime entails.
• For example, offenses against persons are
  generally grouped together and reported for
  criminal justice purposes as crimes against
  people.
• Offenses against property are also grouped
  together and reported as crimes against property.

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The Harm Requirement

• The concept that a crime must include the element
  of harm is reflected in our nations concept of
  due process.
• Due process holds that a criminal law is
  unconstitutional if it does not have a reasonable
  relationship to the matter of injury to the
  public.
• However, it is very important to understand that
  the concept of criminal harm is not limited to
  physical harm.

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The Harm Requirement

• Not all criminal harm results in a physical
  injury to other people or to their property.
• An individual commits a crime when he/she does
  something which violates societys values or
  endangers the well being of the nation.
• Therefore, the harm ingredient in criminal law
  includes non-material or intangible harm, such as
  harm to public safety, institutions, and personal
  reputation.

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The Harm Requirement

• Certain crimes, termed victimless crimes, do not
  contain the element of harm to another person or
  to their property.
• These offenses involve behaviors which are deemed
  to be illegal because they are viewed as harms
  against society as a whole.
• Victimless crimes include offenses such as
  prostitution, illegal drug use, sexual deviance,
  and gambling.

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The Causation Ingredient

• The causation ingredient relates specifically to
  those types of crimes which require that an
  offenders conduct produce a given result.
• In other words, the causation requirement
  indicates that a clear link must exist between
  the act committed and the harm caused by the act.
• Therefore, the causation ingredient requires that
  the person committing the offense must cause harm
  directly through his/her action or inaction
  without interference from another person.

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The Causation Ingredient

• It is important to understand that certain
  crimes, such as perjury and forgery, are defined
  so that the offense consists of both the act
  itself and the intent of the offender to cause
  the harmful result.
• In these types of crimes, it does not matter
  whether or not the result occurs.
• The definition of these crimes indicates the
  intent to cause harm.

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The Causation Ingredient

• In other types of crimes, the penal code requires
  that a specific harm to another person occur as
  the result of the act.
• Examples of these types of crime include
  homicide, assault, battery, and rape.

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The Causation Ingredient

• The Texas Penal Code (22.02) defines aggravated
  assault as a crime where the person
• (1) causes serious bodily injury to another,
  including the persons spouse or
• (2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the
  commission of the assault.
• Thus the penal code establishes the link between
• the assault and serious bodily harm to the victim
  as
• a requirement of the crime of aggravated assault.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rae

• The basic ingredient of every crime is the
  presence of criminal intent.
• Intent is concerned with the mental component of
  a crime that is, the presence of mens rae or the
  guilty mind of the accused.
• The concept of mens rae is based upon the belief
  that people can control their behavior and,
  therefore, can choose alternative forms of
  conduct.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• Intent, therefore, includes the requirement that
  the criminal act be committed voluntarily and
  knowingly by the offender.
• The concept of mens rea suggests
  blameworthiness that is, that the person who
  commits a crime should have known better.
• Criminal intent or mens rea also includes such
  states of mind as negligence, recklessness,
  concealing criminal knowledge (scienter), and
  criminal purpose.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rae

• According to the criminal intent or mens rea
  requirement, an individual cannot be convicted of
  a crime unless it is proven that the offender
  knowingly, willingly, or intentionally committed
  the alleged criminal act.
• For the prosecution, proving criminal intent is
  far more difficult than proving actus reus, the
  guilty mind, because mens rae demands an
  evaluation by the trier of fact Ijury and/or
  judge) of the motives, psychology and intent of
  the accused.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rae

• This mental requirement of criminal intent is
  contained in criminal statutes defined by the
  following degrees
• (1) intentionally, the highest degree
• (2) knowingly
• (3) recklessly
• (4) negligent

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• The US Supreme Court has never announced a
  doctrine requiring proof of mens rea in all
  criminal cases.
• Therefore, states are generally free to define
  criminal laws that do not require proof of mens
  rea or to create criminal statutes that identify
  different degrees of mental guilt.
• However, if mens rea is a defiend ingredient of a
  crime, the prosecution must then prove the
  existence of this essential element of the crime.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• Since most people know what they are doing and
  usually know the probable consequences of their
  acts, it is reasonable for a jury or judge to
  assume that the accused intended the natural
  consequences of his/her delibrate acts.
• For example, a person who points a loaded gun at
  another and pulls the trigger knows the natural
  and probable consequences of this act.
• Incriminating statements or a confession
  statement can also be used.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• Under American law, in order for a person to be
  found guilty of committing most crimes, the
  prosecution must prove that the accused committed
  the physical act or actus reus itself and that
  the accused intended to do so with the full
  knowledge of the consequences of the act.
• There are two levels or types of intent specified
  in the American system of law general intent and
  specific intent.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• General Intent- General intent indicates a state
  of mind in which the offender is not concerned
  for the welfare of others or with the
  consequences of his/her actions.
• Specific Intent- Specific intent is involved in a
  large number of crimes and forms the basis of
  many criminal prosecutions. Specific intent
  means that the accused decided to commit the
  offense before actually committing the crime.

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The Concurrence Ingredient

• Thinking about committing a crime without
  actually performing the criminal act is not a
  crime.
• Therefore, if someone with criminal thoughts does
  nothing to carry out those thoughts, no crime has
  been committed.
• The state cannot punish evil or criminal thoughts
  alone.

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The Concurrence Ingredient

• Therefore, another basic ingredient of a crime is
  that the mens rea intent must concur or coexist
  with the actus reus or criminal act that is, the
  intent and the act must occur about the same
  point in time.

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The Concurrence Ingredient

• In order for a crime to have been committed, the
  criminal act must concur with an equally guilty
  or criminal mind.
• The law requires that a persons behavior must be
  the approximate cause of the harm which results
  from the criminal act.
• Therefore, concurrence has not occurred when a
  considerable period of time takes place between
  the original intent to commit an act and the
  actual commission of the criminal act.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• A basic ingredient of every crime is the presence
  of criminal intent.
• Intent is concerned with the mental component of
  a crime, that is, the presence of mens rea or
  the guilty mind of the accused.
• The concept of mens rea is based upon the belief
  that people can control their behavior and,
  threfore, can chose alternative forms of conduct.

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The Intent Requirement or Mens Rea

• In other words mens rea assumes that no one has
  to commit a crime because, instead of committing
  an offense, they could chose to something that is
  not illegal.
• Intent, therefore, includes the requirement that
  the criminal act be committed voluntarily and
  knowingly by the offender.
• Criminal Intent or mens rea also includes such
  states of mind as negligence, recklessness,
  concealing criminal knowledge, and criminal
  purpose.