The Three Elements on Why People Commit a Crime

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The Three Elements on Why People Commit a Crime There are many different meanings of crime and many different reasons people commit crimes. In the United States, defense lawyers try to prove their clients did not know what they were doing when they committed the crime and the prosecution tries to prove the defendant did know what they were doing when they committed the crime. However, the prosecution must have the elements of a crime, which means state of facts to prove someone guilty. The prosecution lawyers and the defense lawyers use elements of a crime for the defendant. The following are examples of elements of a crime: mens rea, autus reus, concurrence of actus renus and mens rea. All of these can be used as elements of a crime. First, the first element of a crime is Mens rea. “The mental element is known as the mens rea, or mental state, of the defendant.” (Hames & Ekern, 2009) The prosecution lawyers try to prove if the defendant has knowledge of the crime. What was the defendant’s mental state? Were they aware of the effect of the crime, did the defendant plan the crime, o...

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