For some crimes, intent is absolutely necessary, while in other cases it has no bearing on the matter. When does intent matter in a criminal case, and when is it irrelevant to the act in question? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at crimes of intent and crimes that involve strict liability in Minnesota.
Criminal Offenses And Intent
Criminal offenses can be divided into a wide range of categories, but when mental state and intent is factored in, they are usually separated into three specific categories – General intent, specific intent and no intent needed (strict liability). Let’s take a closer look at each:
General Intent – A crime that involves general intent means that the person made choices that led to the act occurring, even if they didn’t set out with the specific intent to commit that crime. Drunk driving is a perfect example of a crime involving general intent. Most people don’t go out with the intent of driving under the influence of alcohol, but they do intentionally consume alcohol to the point where their blood alcohol concentration is over the legal limit. If you unknowingly consumed alcohol and drove drunk, you may have a valid legal defense, but if you willingly drank alcohol, became intoxicated and got behind the wheel, you would have created general intent.
Specific Intent – Specific intent is probably the easiest of the three types of intent to understand. The individual went into the act with a specific intent. First degree murder, burglary or forgery are three types of crimes that typically involve specific intent. You are willfully committing a premeditated act, and as such have created specific intent. If you wrote down in a notebook that you were going to kill your ex-wife, you planned a heist before putting the plan in motion or you knowingly tried to pass off a forged check as legitimate, you have specifically set out to commit an intentional criminal act.
Strict Liability – The final type of criminal act that involves intent are cases of strict liability, where intent is not relevant to the matter at hand. For example, many traffic citations are viewed through the lens of strict liability. It doesn’t matter if you intended to speed or not, if you are caught going 85 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone, odds are you’re going to be given a ticket. A more serious case of strict liability is statutory rape. A person can be held strictly liable for having sexual relations with a minor (statutory rape) even if they believed the minor was of age. Most cases of strict liability are less severe, like speeding, rolling a stop sign or running out of time on your parking meter.
At the end of the day, whether or not you intended to commit the crime can have a huge impact on your case, or it may not matter at all. Your defense lawyer will discover the facts and decide whether or not to pursue a lack of intent as a viable offense for your criminal matter.
To learn more about intent or the best defenses for different crimes, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
