ELEMENTS OF A CRIME NOTES
The criminal justice system carefully defines exactly what a crime is. The system also takes care
in defining what must be PROVED to convict a person of a crime. Almost every crime has four
basic elements.
1. A prohibited act (criminal act). The act is almost always defined by a ______________(law).
The law does not punish people for having criminal ________________ alone. There must be
an act!
Example:
2. Criminal intent (guilty mind). This can be the most difficult element to prove. Criminal laws
generally punish only those who have criminal intent--a guilty mind. But what constitutes a
guilty mind depends on the ________________. The criminal intent required for most crimes
usually falls into 1 of 4 categories:
A. Specific intent. This is the easiest type to define. It means the person ___________
just the result that happened. The person did it __________________________.
Certain crimes, such as ______________, require specific intent.
Example:
B. General intent. This means that the person either knew the result would happen or
consciously disregarded the extreme likelihood that it would happen.
Example:
C. Criminal negligence. This means that a person does dome act unintentionally BUT
WITH AN EXTREME LACK OF CARE.
Example:
D. Strict liability. This means that no mental state is required at all. In other words,
anyone doing the act is guilty regardless of intent.
Example:
Other examples of strict liability crimes include most health, safety, and traffic
offenses.
Example:
3. Concurrence of the act and the intent. The person has to intend the act when he or she
commits it.
Example:
4. Causation. The act has to cause the harmful result.
Example: