Culpable Mental States
Culpable Mental States
There are four categories of culpable mental states as applies to the crime of homicide. These are determined by the offender’s motive while committing the crime.
Intention
This is when an individual commits crime with some purpose. This implies that the offender commits a crime in order to achieve a certain goal. This mental state is evident in most homicide crimes in the USA. Individuals commit murder in order to fulfill some objectives. An example is when an offender kills with the purpose of concealing evidence. The offender might not necessarily be a murderer but he or she kills in order to conceal evidence. Another example is when a wife kills the husband in order to benefit financially from the life insurance package. Such instances of homicide are relatively predominant in the United States (Culbert, 2008).
Knowing
This is the second category of culpable mental state. It encompasses an instance in which an individual commits an offence while he or she is certain about the end-result. As opposed to the intentional state, the offender might not necessarily have a purpose of committing the crime. There is no chance of accident or lack of knowledge in this situation because the offender is fully aware about the consequences of his or her conduct (Pollock, 2012).An example of this culpable mental state of mind is when an individual shoots another person with the knowledge that his action can cause death. Such behavior is tantamount to first degree murder because the offender is familiar with the outcome of his conduct. Another example is a situation where an individual poisons another person with the knowledge that such toxins are lethal. This is also tantamount to first degree murder.
Reckless
This encompasses a situation in which an individual’s conduct is careless in relation to the prevailing condition. Furthermore, such behavior should result into some form of inexplicable contingency. Under similar circumstances, a responsible person would not behave in the same way. These types of situations are predominant in most homicide cases (Acker, 2012).Individuals commit murder as a result of their recklessness or failure to consider the potential threats. An example is when a physician issues harmful prescriptions to a patient without considering the potential consequences of such medication on the patient’s wellbeing. Such prescriptions can result into the patient’s death and this is also tantamount to murder. Another example of recklessness is when a person drives at high speeds unmindful of the risk of causing fatal accidents. This is also unacceptable under the provisions of the constitution.
Criminal Negligence
This is the fourth category of culpable mental state. It encompasses a situation in which an individual’s actions are risky whereas he or she knows that the consequences of these actions are dangerous. In essence, this implies that an individual perpetrates dangerous actions unmindful of their impacts (Culbert, 2008). This framework has strong application to the penal code in the constitution. This mental state might form the basis of charging or acquitting an individual of murder. An example is when an individual sets up a bomb in a public place when he is aware of the potential mass killings. Such an individual is criminally negligent because he pursues an action even though he is aware of the consequence. Another example is when an individual fails to alert colleagues about a fire outbreak in a building. Such actions are criminally negligent.
References
Acker, J. R. & Malatesta, J. M. (2012). Introduction to law and criminal justice, Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Culbert, J. L. (2008). Dead certainty: The death penalty and the problem of judgment, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
Pollock, J. M. (2012). Criminal law, Waltham, MA: Elsevier
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