Purpose or Knowledge of the Crime and an Element of a Crime

Purpose or Knowledge of the Crime
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January 20, 2017
Your Institution of Affiliation
According to Cornell University Law School (n.d.), Mens Rea refers to a “state of mind indicating culpability which is required by statute as an element of a crime”. In other words, proving that the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and, is aware of the repercussions of his/her misconduct is essential for him/her to be convicted. In the case of Maria, she was found possesing coccaine in the car that she was driving. In many cases, she could be charged with conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute, since the prima facie evidence stated that she was driving the car filled with Coccaine CITATION Fed16 \l 1033 (FederalDrugCharges.net, 2016). As defined by Farflex (n.d.), Conspiracy is “an agreement between two or more persons to engage jointly in an unlawful or criminal act, or an act that is innocent in itself but becomes unlawful when done by the combination of actors”. In cases like these, the individual found red-handed would surely face not just one offence (conspiracy), but other also of other offences. And, in her case, those charges were importing and possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance. However, the police would first need to prove that she “knowingly” possess a controlled substance to have a probable cause of convicting her, or, that she consciously avoided to know what was in that compartment. In other words, the Mens Rea requirement for her to be convicted should show that she does know or avioded to know that the drugs are in there, regardless of whether she knows what substances those were CITATION Li...