Legal Criminal Intent Daytona State College School of Emergency Services Substantive Criminal Law...

Daytona State CollegeSchool of Emergency Services

LegalCriminal Intent

Substantive Criminal LawSubstantive Criminal Law

Criminal IntentCriminal Intent



ObjectivesObjectives

• How to determine if a crime has been How to determine if a crime has been committedcommitted

• IntentIntent

• Four categories of criminal intentFour categories of criminal intent

• Criminal negligenceCriminal negligence

• General intentGeneral intent

• Specific intentSpecific intent

• Transferred intentTransferred intent



Elements of an OffenseElements of an Offense

• Are the elements present to constitute a Are the elements present to constitute a criminal act?criminal act?– Probable cause that:

• The elements of the crime are present

• Also known as “corpus delicti” or “body of the crime”

• The person to be charged committed the crime

– Criminal acts each have their own elements• Elements are found in the statute




• ExamplesExamples– Burglary, FS 810

• Entered into or remained in a structure or conveyance

• With intent to commit a crime

– Trespass. FS 810• Entered into or remained in a

structure or conveyance

• Without permission




• ExamplesExamples– Battery, FS 784

• Struck or touched another person against his or her will

• Causes harm to another person

– Assault, FS 784• Intentional, unlawful threat against another

• Coupled with an apparent ability to do so

• With an act that creates fear in the victim that harm is imminent




• ExamplesExamples– DUI, FS 316.193

• Drove a motor vehicle

• On public roads or in the public domain

• While impaired by drugs or alcohol



IntentIntent

• To be guilty:To be guilty:– Offender engages in behavior that is specifically

prohibited– Offender purposely engages in conduct that is

against the law

• Intent is defined Intent is defined – Doing what the law declares to be a crime



IntentIntent

• Results of actions…Results of actions…– The law recognizes that intent occurs when the

person’s actions are likely to result, regardless of desire for that result

– Shooting into a crowd is likely to cause injury and death, even though the shooter may not want to shoot a specific individual



Categories of Criminal IntentCategories of Criminal Intent

• Criminal NegligenceCriminal Negligence

• General IntentGeneral Intent

• Specific IntentSpecific Intent

• Transferred IntentTransferred Intent



Criminal NegligenceCriminal Negligence

• Liability (responsibility) that occurs when:Liability (responsibility) that occurs when:– A person breaches a duty to conform to a

particular standard– Simple negligence is not a crime– Criminal responsibility requires

culpable negligence



Culpable NegligenceCulpable Negligence

• DefinedDefined– Consciously doing an act or following a course of

conduct that the person must have known or should have known was likely to cause death or great bodily harm

• ExampleExample– Driving impaired on a busy street at night at 80

mph• Could be criminal in nature – Traffic homicide



General IntentGeneral Intent

• Defines most criminal offensesDefines most criminal offenses– The offender commits some prohibited act– To be an “act” the offender’s movements must be

voluntary– The offender must have some movement towards

completing the crime– Completion is not required



Specific IntentSpecific Intent

• Requires more than just a reasonable Requires more than just a reasonable expectation of resultexpectation of result– Must have a special mental element of intent to

cause a certain result, over and above any mental state required for the offender to commit the act

– Specific elements must be met

• ExampleExample– Burglary is specific intent, as it requires

the burglar to intend to commit a crime



Transferred IntentTransferred Intent

• Intentional act causes an unintentional Intentional act causes an unintentional resultresult– Criminal is not absolved because

something unexpected happened

• ExampleExample– Shoot at one person, miss, but

hit an unexpected bystander



Criminal LiabilityCriminal Liability

• Causal relationship between the act and the Causal relationship between the act and the resulting harmresulting harm– Accidental crimes cannot happen– Defense lawyers will try to diminish criminal

liability by diminishing intent– Must pay strict attention to the elements of the

crime



QuestionsQuestions

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