Elements of a Crime Essay

Submitted By Stefan04
Words: 842
Pages: 4
Open Document
Elements of a Crime
Actus Reus
The Actus Reus of a crime is the physical element, or act. The actions of the crime to must be voluntary in that they are controlled by the defendant.
Hill and Baxter - The driver of a car would not be driving voluntarily. These included being hit on the head with a stone and being stung by a swarm of bees. Such actions would not amount to actus reus and therefore the defendant could not be guilty.
Mens Rea
The Mens Rea of a crime is the mental element, this consists of intention or recklessness or an act. For example taking an unjustified risk or gross negligence that results in an injury or death of a victim will make part of the Mens Rea.
R v Adamako - The defendant was an anaesthetist that failed to observe that during an operation that the tube inserted in the patients mouth had become detached from the ventilator, this resulted in the patient suffering a cardiac arrest and eventually died.
It was held the defendant was guilty through gross negligence and that the defendant had failed to carry out his duty of care.
Intention is able to be separated into two forms, direct and oblique (indirect). Should a defendant point and fire a gun he has intention. Most cases within criminal law will involve direct intention, this is usually where the defendants carries out an act to achieve a desired result.
Attorney-General of Northern Ireland v Gallagher – The defendant wanted to kill his wife, in order to carry this out he drank a large amount of whiskey, to give himself ‘Dutch courage’
It was held not it was enough for there to be intention before becoming intoxicated.
Indirect or oblique intention is the more difficult of the two forms. This type of intention exists when the defendant’s carries out an act to achieve a desired outcome but in doing so also achieves another, undesired result. R v Nedrick – The defendant poured petrol through a letter box and then set it alight, this resulted in the death of a child. The defendant had only intended to frighten the mother but not harms any victims.
It was ruled that it did not matter that the defendant didn’t intent to harm anyone but the results of his actions were a virtual certainty and foreseeable, therefore a conviction of manslaughter was given.
R v Woollin – The defendant lost his temper with his three month old baby son and threw the child onto a hard surface, causing head injuries from which the child died.

This followed part of the ratio decidendi set by Nedrick, where the defendants actions have a virtual certainty of significant harm or death.
Types of Causation
Causations refers the whether a defendants conduct or omission caused the harm or the damage concerned with the victim. Causation within criminal liability is can be divided into factual and legal causation, each of which makes use of two tests. Factual causation uses the ‘but for’ test to determine whether a defendant is liable. While legal causation make use of the ‘thin skull’ rule, where a defendant must take the victim as they find them, any personal
Show More

Related Documents: Elements of a Crime Essay

Seven Elements Of Crime Analysis

The seven elements of a crime help distinguish, categorize, justify, and confirm criminal offenses that have been deemed as such. These elements are punishment, concurrence, causation, harm, legality, actus reus, and mens rea. There are several questions that need some answers in relevance to whether illegal drug use, prostitution, and gambling are aligned with these seven elements (Bethel University, 2013). Illegal drug use such as marijuana does not fit the seven elements of crime. Marijuana is…

Words 511 - Pages 3

Literacy Elements In Evolution Of A Crime By Darius Monroe

watched this movie called evolution, of a crime by Darius Monroe. A couple of weeks ago we had to memorize this poem called invites. Now we have to bring the two and summarize them in an essay. We have two choose at least wo literacy elements in choosing are flashback and foreshadowing. They both have compare about what went on in this story I am choosing foreshadowing for the movie evolution of a crime by Darius Monroe. Foreshadowing show the literacy element in this story. When they rob the back…

Words 277 - Pages 2

Decker Case Analysis

it is a lesser-included offense of Count Three, §51: Manufacture of Meth. A defendant cannot be charged with the same crime twice, for that would be considered double jeopardy. In order for a court to determine "if one the count constitutes a lesser offense that is included in the other," courts will look apply the "Strict Elements Test."…

Words 720 - Pages 3

An Analysis Of Bill Cosby's Crimes

Concurrence, and Punishment are all elements that make a crime a crime. We understand that Mr. Cosby thought out, planned, and executed his actions; so harm indeed did occur. Below we will briefly explain how Mr. Cosby supported these elements while carrying out his actions making this crime into a sickening reality. The next step is legality and that means that the crime must be legally forbidden and not be ex post facto. Ex post facto means that the crime was legal when it happened but the…

Words 319 - Pages 2

The Elements of Criminal Liability Essay

The Elements of Criminal Liability ACTUS REUS & MENS REA "Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea", or "an act does not make a man guilty unless his mind be also guilty (Burgess, 2004, p.8)." In criminal law, for an individual to commit a crime, there must be present two elements. They are: • Actus Reus (meaning guilty act – or omission); and • Mens Rea (meaning guilty mind). Actus Reus is the guilty act or omission in the commissioning of a crime. In short, it is what the offender does…

Words 2392 - Pages 10

Essay on ASSAINGMENT 1 CIS 500

contrast the application of information technology (IT) to optimize police departments’ performance to reduce crime versus random patrols of the streets. It will describe how COMSTAT as an information system (IS) implements the four (4) basic (IS) functions; and will discuss the fashion is which IT systems have made police departments more efficient in preventing and responding to crime. I will also explore the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity , and Threats (SWOT) analysis. This is essential…

Words 1483 - Pages 6

A Cage Of Butterflies Essay

variety of features in his novel ‘A Cage of Butterflies’, typical of the crime fiction genre, such as the archetypal antagonists, setting and themes. Nevertheless Caswell modifies many elements of the detective genre, for instance the structure, perspective, and ‘hard-boiled’ detective. These elements of crime fiction can be used to conclude whether ‘A Cage of Butterflies’ is typical or atypical of the genre. A majority of crime fiction novels are set in a believable place and time frame. These factual…

Words 820 - Pages 4

Central Park Murder Case Summary

Academy news video coverage (2007), the crimes that tend to be reported are ones that involve disturbing and violent crimes, often involving an upper-class perpetrator, victim or neighborhood. Additionally, if a sexual element is present or even implied within the story, the news media will focus heavily on this element, by including innuendo and further sensationalizing the story, as seen in the Central Park murder case. In the news video, the sexual element of the Central Park murder sensationalized…

Words 311 - Pages 2

Criminological Theories Of Crime

influences that surround the offender to commit the crime. Routine activity theory is the theory that is categorized under “environmental criminology”. This theory falls under that category for the reason that it examines the physical and social environment to which it brings the offender to commit a crime. Marcus Felson proposed this theory in conjunction with Lawrence Cohen in 1979. Felson and Cohen agreed that in order for a crime to occur, three elements must assemble in a area and time. Criminal activities…

Words 138 - Pages 1

Together Love And Family In The Shadow Of The Prison Book Report

as courts correction they acknowledge that someone made the crime, but they have mental issues. Therefore, the two models of criminal justice came along, with due process and crime control model; the first establish librol model, which punish people with the idea of fairness, and the second one with conciverty mode the assembelitely line model of the idea of quickness and finality. With dealing with any type of crime, mala inse; crime that are wrong in themselves, and mala prijevety; something that…

Words 850 - Pages 4