Mens rea

As a general rule the act (or omission) causing death and the relevant mens rea must occur at the same time. The most obvious application of this rule to exclude liability is the case where the mens rea is formed after the actus reus has taken place.

The criminal offences not requiring a mens rea proof for convictions are then specifically indicated in the legislature as being under “strict liability.”

The majority of serious criminal offences require, in addition to the actus reus, a specific state of mind on the part of the accused, usually referred to as the mens rea. Many less serious crimes require no mens rea, but simply proof that the defendant caused the prohibited harm.

The individual mentes reae of the joint perpetrators have to be considered separately.

In “Winner,” [Susanna] Fogel dramatizes, onscreen, Reality [Winner]’s mens rea, showing the elaborate details of her plan to print, purloin, and disclose the relevant pages of the Russia file—and the combination of forethought and improvisation on which the plan’s success depends.