What is Mens Rea and its Types?

A person cannot be found guilty of most crimes unless there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the person had the intent to commit the crime. The concept of a person needing to have bad intent (or an ‘evil mind’) is a legal concept known as “mens rea.” Mens rea is a Latin term that translates to “guilty mind.” It’s a concept that most can agree with – a person is generally only guilty of a crime if they committed an illegal act knowingly or purposefully.

There are, of course, different levels of culpability. Not every action that results in harm or criminal offense was taken intentionally. Some actions qualify as criminal acts due to the recklessness taken on by the perpetrator, or strict liability crimes that you can commit, even if you have no idea (think not knowing the speed limit on a given road.) While most crimes require that a person who committed a criminal act to have been acting with a criminal intent, sometimes causing harm through recklessness or negligence is enough to quantify a criminal action (or inaction.)

Courts generally recognize four levels of mens rea, which we will dive into more in the below.

Mens Rea Origin

Mens Rea is a legal relic – the term itself is Latin for “guilty mind.” This is an old-world concept that has a prominent place in the modern application of law and justice. When someone is charged with most crimes, the prosecutor must prove two separate components; that a person acted with the requisite

• Mens rea (criminal intent); and
• Actus reus (criminal action).

If the requisite components are missing, the defendant cannot be found guilty of the accused crime. Criminal courts will evaluate a defendant’s mental state and criminal intent in cases to evaluate the defendant’s mental state and criminal intent at the time of the alleged criminal act to determine culpability.

Types of Mens Rea (Levels of Culpability)

A criminal case involves one of the following types of mens rea:

• Intent: A person must act with the intent, or predetermination, to commit a dangerous or illegal act. If a person acts with no determination to commit a criminal act, intent is not present. An example of a person acting with criminal intent would be a person breaking and entering into a residence with the intent to burglarize.
• Knowledge: A person is consciously aware that their actions would result in a particular type of harm.
• When a person engages in particular conduct despite being aware of the risk of the behavior, they can be found reckless. For example, a driver who gets behind the wheel of their car after drinking alcohol and crashes, injuring another person. While there may not have been any malevolent intention behind the driver’s actions, the fact remains that the person knowingly committed a reckless act that resulted in harm.
• When a person’s conduct falls below what is called a “reasonable standard of care” they can be found negligent. For example, a babysitter who is in charge when a child gets hurt could be found guilty of negligence charges, if it is found that the harm occurred due to a failure on the babysitter’s part to appropriately perform their duties.

Contact Fort, Holloway & Rogers

Mens rea is important to understand, and can be a pivotal turning point in many criminal defense cases. For help in your own case, contact the experienced Franklin criminal defense attorneys at Fort, Holloway & Rogers.

Sources:

ejiltalk.org/whose-reasonable-inference-the-icjs-advisory-opinion-and-the-threshold-for-apartheids-mens-rea/

reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/supreme-court-consider-permissible-scope-expert-testimony-about-mens-rea-2024-03-18/