Intention criminal: Encyclopedia II - Intention criminal - Definitions

Intention criminal - Definitions

A range of words is used to represent shades of intention in the various criminal laws around the world. The most serious crime of murder, for example, traditionally expressed the mens rea element as malice aforethought, and the interpretations of malice, "maliciously" and "wilfully" vary between pure intention and recklessness depending on the state and the seriousness of the offence.

A person intends a consequence when he or she foresees that it will happen if the given series of acts or omissions continue and desires it to happen. The most serious level of culpability, justifying the most serious levels of punishment, will be achieved when both these components are actually present in the accused's mind (a "subjective" test). A person who plans and executes a crime is a more serious danger to the public than one who acts spontaneously, whether out of the sudden opportunity to steal, or out of anger to injure another.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Definitions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki