Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Concurrence, and General Intent Crimes versus Specific Intent Crimes

Definition of Terms
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Actus Reus
Actus reus refers to the physical deed of a crime due to the voluntary movement of the body. It includes all kinds of murder, physical assault, and destruction of property. Actus reus signify more than guilty of the deed (Hajdin, 2021). For example, actus reus of theft is having possession of someone's property, and murder is unlawfully taking another person's life. Another form of actus reus is an omission which is an act of criminal negligence. Negligence can be the failure to warn other people that a person has generated a harmful scenario, not finishing a work-related task in the right way, which leads to an accident, or failing to feed a child left under your supervision. In these situations, the offender was unable to complete necessary activities that caused others to be harmed. The elements of actus reus can be categorized into three types, namely, conduct, consequences, and circumstances. To establish actus reus, the prosecutor must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the offender was accountable for the offense forbidden by the law. Actus reus is excepted when the criminal acts are involuntary. For example, events that happen due to convulsion, spasm, any movement made by an individual while unconscious or asleep, and activities engaged while a person is in a hypnotic state. In all the listed situations, a criminal offense may be done but was unintentional, and the responsible individual is unaware of the deed until after the crime.
Mens Rea
Mens rea means the state of mind required by the statutory to convict an offender for a particular offense. Thus, it is the mental state of an individual who intends to commit a felony. It is also the knowledge that a lack of action or one's action will lead to a crime being committed. In a court of law, the prosecutor must prove that the defendant engaged in the deed with a guilty state of mind (Kneer, & Bourgeois-Gironde, 2017). If the desire and intent are missing, the defendant is acquitted of the crime. The model penal code recognizes four mens rea levels: negligence, purpose, recklessness, and knowledge. The accused is with a purpose if they act with the intention that their deed will cause a specific result. The defendant acts with knowledge if they are familiar with their actions that will lead to exact consequences. The accused acts recklessly when they are aware of the substantial risk of a given result due to their action. In negligence, the defendant is unaware of the risks involved, but they should have known such risks exist. Mens era is a mandatory component for many crimes. Therefore, the law requires the offender to be deserving of the punishment based on blameworthiness.
Concurrence
Concurrence is the presumed need to confirm the simultaneous happenings of both actus reus and mens rea to establish an offense. The concurrence rule states that for an individual to be convicted of a crime, the accused must have the requisite intention when they engage in the deed (Gliga, 2020). Therefore, a concurrence must exist between the guilty mind and the result intended by the crime that the offender has committed. For example, a crime of theft is de...