When the government charges a defendant with a crime, the charge consists of separate components called elements. Under the United States criminal law, the elements of a crime represent a set of facts that have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to convict a defendant of a crime. A credible criminal defense lawyer in Sugar Land Texas can help you understand the elements of a crime.

In general, a crime consists of four elements: a criminal act (actus reus), criminal intent (mens rea), concurrence, and causation. For someone to be convicted of a crime, there must be evidence proving the defendant committed each element of said crime. The first three elements are required to prosecute all crimes, while the last element, causation, is often required, but not in all criminal cases.

Criminal Act (Actus Reus)

Actus reus (Latin word which means “guilty act”), refers to the unlawful act of committing a crime. It is commonly defined as a criminal act resulting from the voluntary bodily movement of the defendant. If a defendant acts on reflex, it does not satisfy the requirement of voluntariness.

This element describes a physical activity that harms another person or damages property. Anything from a physical assault or murder to the destruction of public property would qualify as an actus reus. Words can also be considered acts in criminal law: perjury, verbal threats, conspiracy, or solicitation. The actus reus component of a crime will vary depending on the crime and the state where the defendant is being prosecuted.

Criminal Intent (Mens Rea)

The mental state element, also known as mens rea, refers to the state of mind that the defendant possessed at the time the crime was committed. The theory of mens rea holds that a defendant can only be held liable when there is criminal intent.

Different mental states may define a criminal offense. The type of mental state depends on how the crime is defined in the statute. There are four main types of mens rea: General intent, specific intent, motive, and knowledge/awareness.

• General intent – refers to crimes in which there is no requirement for proof beyond a reasonable doubt about what was going on in the defendant’s mind
• Specific intent – these are crimes are those in which the prosecutor must prove that the defendant had a particular goal or end-game in mind when they committed the offense
• Motive – refers to why a person committed a crime and is not necessary when proving mens rea
• Knowledge/awareness – these are crimes in which the defendant must have known or been aware of the facts surrounding the commission of the offense. An example of this would be the possession of drugs with intent to distribute, as prosecutors would need to prove that the defendant was aware of what they were doing.

Concurrence

This element of a crime refers to the coexistence of criminal intent (mens rea) and a criminal act (actus reus) at the time of the offense. In this case, prosecutors must prove that you committed some sort of unlawful act (actus reus) while also having a “guilty” state of mind (mens rea).

There are two types of concurrence: temporal and motivational concurrent. Temporal concurrence is when mens rea and actus reus coincide. On the other hand, motivational concurrence is when mens rea occurs first, motivating the actus reus.

Causation

Causation refers to the proof of a causal relationship between the act and the crime. This crime element refers to the act’s connection with an injury, loss, or harm. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s actions led to the alleged harm or injury. Much of the time, this fourth element is present in a criminal case. Causation alone will not create liability.