ADMJ 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Eviction, Alcoa, Mens Rea
Document Summary
5 elements of any crime: actus reus (that voluntary act must cause social harm. , mens rea requisite intent to cause the harm, attendant circumstances, causation, harm, voluntary act. A crime has two parts: the mental part ( mens rea ) and the physical/external part ( actus reus ). Actus reus refers to the physical aspect of the criminal activity. The term has 2 components: (1) a voluntary conduct/action or legal omission (2) that causes social harm. Murder requires a physical result result crime (a dead person). Some crimes, however, don"t require a result immediately caused by your conduct (e. g. drunk driving). If you intend to do something, but don"t intend the harm, this doesn"t constitute. General rule subject to limited exceptions, a person is not guilty of a crime unless his conduct includes a voluntary act. Few statutes defining criminal offenses expressly provide for this requirement but courts usually treat it as an implicit element of criminal statutes.
