The Crown must prove that the accused intended to commit the crime alleged. It may be difficult to determine with certainty what a person is thinking at the time a crime is alleged to have occurred. Yet, the law insists that we determine the mens rea, or state of mind of the accused, at the time he is alleged to have committed a criminal act. Determining mens rea requires a determination of an offender’s state of mind at the time he commits the offence.
There may be some ways to discern a person’s intention(s) when an alleged crime occurs. Sometimes mens rea can be established by what an accused says or admits to others, or, by what he does before the act, or, by what he does after that act, or, by a discernible motive or reason for committing the act(s). Absent these indicia, however, determining criminal intent can be difficult to determine, and, more difficult to prove. If the accused testifies at trial, he, of course, he can tell the Judge or jury what he claims he was thinking at the time of the act. Then it is up to the Judge or jury to determine if he is telling the truth about what he intended.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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