Mens rea is Latin for a guilty mind. Mens rea refers to what a defendant was thinking and what they intended when the crime was committed. Mens rea helps to differentiate between someone who did not mean to commit a crime and someone who intentionally committed a crime (Findlaw, 2017).
According to Brody and Acker, mens rea is when a person honestly did not know that their conduct was against the law and had no conscious awareness of wrongdoing. When there is no evidence that the person committing the crime has a guilty mind that is normally there when stating blame and imposing criminal punishment after a crime, this is considered mens rea (Brody & Acker, 2010).
The legal system of the U.S. has two components of every crime that must be proven by the prosecution to obtain a conviction; actus reus which means the criminal action and mens rea which means the criminal intent. Both components must be present or the defendant will be acquitted (England, 2017). A good example of mens rea is if a woman slips in the kitchen while using a knife to cut up a chicken and accidentally stabs her husband, she would not be guilty …show more content…
The Roman law was being revived and grafted onto the English Law that formed the notion of mental elements in crime (Chesney, 1939). Another great influence according to Chesney, was as early as the Sermon on the Mount where Christ laid the philosophy out that supported the proposition where desire, wish, and intent determine culpability (Chesney, 1939). Augustine and Theodore of Tarsus were the two main English entities that helped with the acceptance of the doctrine of mens rea in criminal law in (Chesney, 1939). The term mens rea itself, comes from the writings of Edward Coke. Coke was an English jurist who wrote about common law practices. He felt that an act does not make a person guilty unless their mind is guilty as well (Crime Museum,
According to Brody and Acker, mens rea is when a person honestly did not know that their conduct was against the law and had no conscious awareness of wrongdoing. When there is no evidence that the person committing the crime has a guilty mind that is normally there when stating blame and imposing criminal punishment after a crime, this is considered mens rea (Brody & Acker, 2010).
The legal system of the U.S. has two components of every crime that must be proven by the prosecution to obtain a conviction; actus reus which means the criminal action and mens rea which means the criminal intent. Both components must be present or the defendant will be acquitted (England, 2017). A good example of mens rea is if a woman slips in the kitchen while using a knife to cut up a chicken and accidentally stabs her husband, she would not be guilty …show more content…
The Roman law was being revived and grafted onto the English Law that formed the notion of mental elements in crime (Chesney, 1939). Another great influence according to Chesney, was as early as the Sermon on the Mount where Christ laid the philosophy out that supported the proposition where desire, wish, and intent determine culpability (Chesney, 1939). Augustine and Theodore of Tarsus were the two main English entities that helped with the acceptance of the doctrine of mens rea in criminal law in (Chesney, 1939). The term mens rea itself, comes from the writings of Edward Coke. Coke was an English jurist who wrote about common law practices. He felt that an act does not make a person guilty unless their mind is guilty as well (Crime Museum,