Dangerous Act Rationale Essay

The rational choice theory gives insight in to why otherwise law abiding citizens would commit crime. Most burglars do not burglarize because they want something specific from the victim's property nor are they saving the cash proceeds for a long-term goal. They burglarize because they need the money right now to pay off bills, buy food and clothes for their family or to purchase alcohol and illegal drugs. Most burglars would turn to making an honest living, but, even that does not meet their immediate desires for cash. Nor would the earned wages support their lifestyles. (Wright & Decker, 1994).

First is the actus reus, Latin for ‘guilt act’. This refers to the actual performance of a guilty or wrongful act or omission to act that breaks criminal law. In R v Silva [2015] the ‘actus rea’ is Jessica Silva’s physical committing of the stabbing of James Polkinghorne on 13 May 2012, eventually leading

When a person takes steps toward the commission of a crime and has a specific intent to commit the crime, but for unforeseen reasons is unable to complete the crime the person has committed the crime of Attempt (Jirard, 2009). In the case of the State of Indiana versus Donald J. Haines, emergency personnel including two police officers [Dennis and Hayworth] along with emergency medical technicians [Garvey and Robinson] responded to Mr. Haines’s apartment for a report of a possible suicide that just occurred. When officers Dennis and Hayworth arrived at Haines’s apartment they discovered him lying face down in a pool of blood. Officer Dennis noticed that both of Haines’s wrists were cut and were bleeding. When Haines heard the paramedics he stood up, and began screaming at Dennis that he has AIDS and that he should be left to die. Dennis advised Haines that he was there to help him, and Haines told Dennis that he wanted to fuck him so that he could give him AIDS. Haines than told Dennis that he was going to utilize his wounds to spray blood on him, and began to jerk back and forth causing his infected blood to get into Dennis’ mouth and eyes. Haines told Dennis that he could not deal with having AIDS, but that he was going to make him deal with it.

The second component of a crime, mens reus, or criminal intent, was demonstrated by the following example. At one point Miller covered Cannon with a sheet and stated, “Cole, I am God, I’ve come to take your life” (2012, p.1) The third element of a crime, concurrence, was chronologically sequenced with Miller’s intent to commit the act followed by his commission of the criminal act.

All crimes consisted of an act is carried out with minds that have planned a guilty thought according to common law. Criminal intent can be the basis of fault and punishment according to intent is a solid promise of the criminal justice according to modern society. Crimes that lack the intent element are less common and are usually graded lower, as either misdemeanors or infractions. Specific intent is the intent with the highest level of culpability for crimes other than murder. Specific intent means that the defendant acts with a more sophisticated level of awareness (Connecticut Jury Instructions No. 2.3-1, 2011).When you hold someone liable for an offense without considering the carelessness of the person then we refers to it strict liability. In law, strict liability is a standard for liability which may exist in either a criminal or civil context. Concurrence in the law is the requirement that a guilty mental state coincide with a guilty

3. For a crime to be committed, the prosecutor must be able to prove a criminal intent and an overt act to carry out that intent. Jack and Mary agreed to rob a series of banks. Prior to beginning their bank robbery spree, they were arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy. What act did Jack and Mary do that justifies a finding that they committed the crime? Explain.

The intent is acting with a purpose or having knowledge that the act in question can cause injury or harm to another person. Acting requires a person to perform an act that results in harm or injury to another. Actual Cause requires

Stalking has been a label for a long-term pattern of persistent pursuit and intrusive behavior directed by one person toward another (Logan & Cole, 2007). It is a term that has been around since

Under the heading of inchoate offences, Nubbles and Rudge would be guilty of the offence, as for instance, in the case of Coleville (1988) the accused attempted to break into a car, and was convicted since the accused was

This article is an example pertaining to the topic mens rea, because it explains, the intent element of offense with proof the mens rea concur with the criminal act. The two clearly had the conscious desire to cause the result of the victim, they took months to plan to kill Payton Leutner.

In addition, attempt has two different subcategories of attempt that are punishable by law. Complete attempt also known as imperfect attempt is when the individual covers all steps to commit crime but fails to follow through, an example of a complete attempt is if a shooter misses his target in a drive by attempt. An incomplete attempt is if the individual is forced to abandon the attempted crime due to reasons beyond one’s control, an example of an incomplete attempt is if the shooter had to abandon location because of known whereabouts by the police. Although, there is a third type of attempt known as the impossible attempt in which the attempt could have been completed had the scenario played out correctly such as if the shooter shot at the targets location and target is not present however this attempt is not a defense in an attempt to commit a crime.

There are many perspectives in which one can analyze and understand why a person decides to commit a crime. Some perspectives are social learning theory, strain theory, classical and rational choice theory, deterrence theory, biological and psychological positivist theories, among others. However, for the purposes of this paper, the biological and psychological theories will be discussed.

In this essay, I will describe the elements of a criminal act, address the law of factual impossibility, the law of legal impossibility, and distinguish whether the alleged crime in the scenario is a complete but imperfect attempt or an incomplete attempt. I will address the ethical or moralistic concerns associated with allowing a criminal defendant to avoid criminal responsibility by successfully asserting a legal defense such as impossibility. The court was clearly wrong to dismiss the charge against Jack of attempted murder of Bert.

Mens Rea: The act must be accompanied by a particular state of mind. Mens rea does not equate to intentionality. For example, your neighbor’s dog barks incessantly causing her to want to cause harm to the animal. One day, she shoots the dog with the intent to kill it thus eliminating the cause of her stress which was the incessant barking. The Model Penal Code drafters made it clear that different kinds of mens rea could be attached to different components of a crime (Sampsell-Jones, 2013, p. 1458). The drafters changed the word intent and replaced it with ‘purposefully’.

Actus reus is the behavior that the criminal law intends to punish. It is either an act of commission such as stealing, or an act of omission such as failing to file a tax return. Whether a person commits an act of commission or an act of omission, they are still doing something that is against the law. Mens rea is only punishable for voluntarily actions such as holding a gun and choosing to pull the trigger. When one