[align=left] <H4>Crimes Requiring "Malicious" or "Willful" Behavior


In everyday usage people often use the term "malicious" to mean "spiteful" or "wicked." In most criminal statutes, however, "malicious" is synonymous with "intentional" and "knowing." As a result, the term "maliciously" usually adds nothing to the general mens rea requirement.
As used in murder statutes, however, the term "malice" is often interpreted as meaning the defendant had a "man-endangering" state of mind when the act was committed, which is enough to justify at least a second degree murder charge.
As with "maliciously," the term "willfully" usually adds nothing to the general mens rea requirement. At times, however, the term "willfully" in a statute has been interpreted to require the government to prove not only that a person acted intentionally, but also that the person intended to break the law. (This is an unusual instance in which "ignorance of the law" actually is an excuse!) For example, in one case a federal law made it illegal to willfully bring in to the country more than $10,000 in cash without declaring it to customs officials. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that to convict a person of violating this law, the government had to prove that the person knew the law's requirements. (Ratzlaf v. U.S., 510 U.S. 135 (1994).) "Specific Intent" Crimes


"Specific intent" laws require the government to do more than show that a defendant acted "knowingly." Specific intent laws require the government to prove that a defendant had a particular purpose in mind when engaging in illegal conduct.
For example, many theft laws require the government to prove that a defendant took property "with the intent to permanently deprive a person of the property." To convict a defendant of theft, the government has to prove that a thief's plan was to forever part a victim from his or her property. For example, a culprit who drives off in another's car without permission and returns it a few hours later might be convicted only of "joyriding." However, the same culprit who drives off in another's car without permission and takes it across the country probably demonstrates a specific intent to permanently deprive the owner of the car and would be guilty of the more serious crime of car theft. The Role of "Motive" in Criminal Law


"Motive" generally refers to the reason behind an illegal act. For example, a person's need to raise money quickly to pay off a bookie may be the motive for a robbery; revenge for a personal affront may be the motive for a physical attack. Prosecutors often offer motive evidence as circumstantial evidence that a defendant acted intentionally or knowingly. Judges and jurors are more likely to believe that a defendant had mens rea if they know that the defendant had a motive to commit an illegal act. By the same token, defendants may offer evidence showing that they had no motive to commit a crime and then argue that the lack of a motive demonstrates reasonable doubt of guilt. Crimes That Don't Require Mens Rea


Laws that don't require mens rea -- that is, laws that punish people who may be morally innocent -- are called "strict liability laws." The usual justification for a strict liability law is that the social benefits of stringent enforcement outweigh the harm of punishing a person who may be morally blameless. Examples of strict liability laws include:
  • "Statutory rape" laws, which in some states make it illegal to have ***ual intercourse with a minor, even if the defendant honestly and reasonably believed that the ***ual partner was old enough to consent legally to ***ual intercourse.
  • "Sale of alcohol to minors" laws, which in many states punish store clerks who sell alcohol to minors even if the clerks reasonably believe that the minors are old enough to buy liquor.
Strict liability laws like these punish defendants who make honest mistakes and therefore may be morally innocent.
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