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What Are The Elements of Crimes?
Basic Elements
Crimes (except for strict liability crimes) have two basic elements: the guilty mind and the guilty act. The technical terms for these elements are their Latin names: "mens rea" meaning "guilty mind" and "actus reus" meaning the "thing done". A crime is committed when a person commits a guilty act accompanied by a guilty mind.
Specific Elements
Crimes also have specific elements which are contained in the definition of a crime. For example, a murder is an intentional killing of a human being. The elements are that the accused must have (1) purposely or knowingly (2) caused a death (3) of a human being. To obtain a conviction, the state must prove all of the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Model Penal Code does not use the Latin terms "mens rea" and "actus reus". The Code uses the following terms to describe the actor's state of mind:
- Purpose
- Knowledge
- Recklessness
- Negligence
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