Unit II Essay
After reading this chapter and the unit lesson, you can see that the elements of a crime are imperative for the court process. Without them, a person cannot be convicted.
Begin your paper by explaining actus reus, mens rea, the concurrence of the two, and how this relates to criminal charges and the court process. Be sure you articulate why all three most go together in regard to court processes.
After doing that, look at the scenarios below and then explain what the actus reus and mens rea are as they relate to each scenario. Then you will explain, in your opinion, if the person is guilty or not guilty in each scenario. Imagine you are the judge in each case, and explain why you believe the person in the scenario is guilty or innocent.
Trey was charged with attempting to steal from a grocery store. He pretended he had a gun in his pocket, but it was a water pistol. He was charged with attempted robbery.
Ron was charged with murder after being part of a large fight at a local restaurant. The deceased was attempting to grab Mike’s friend and get her to leave with him. Therefore, everyone attacked the deceased and started fighting, attempting to get him to leave the restaurant and leave Mike’s friend alone. At least six people were part of the fight, all drunk, and all attacking the deceased. Both Ron and Mike hit the deceased with a barstool, over the head, during the fight and proceeded to choke him. The coroner states blunt force trauma and asphyxiation were the causes of death.
Jessica drove her car into a home, during a rainstorm that caused low visibility conditions. She has been charged with reckless driving.
Randy is charged with rape of Mary after a party where he got “too drunk to know” what he was doing. Mary agrees that Randy was quite drunk but states “he knew what he was doing.” Randy hit Mary several times and threatened to kill her if she did not have sex with him. The ER was able to confirm, through a rape kit, that Randy and Mary had intercourse. The ER nurse found bruises on Mary’s neck. Tammy, Mary’s roommate, states that Randy knew what he was doing and “seemed to be fine.”
Shawn was charged with theft after going to the grocery store and realizing he did not have enough money with him. He took the price tags from ground turkey and put them on the New York Strip steak. The ground turkey cost $1.99 per pound, and the steak cost $13.99 per pound. The manager saw him and called the police, who charged Shawn with attempted theft right after Shawn paid for the steak at the ground turkey price.
Kristina was driving to her friend’s house because they had had a fight earlier in the day, and she wanted to make up. In a text, she told him “I could kill you right now.” As she drove, she thought about how much she loved him and how they
CRJ 2000, Introduction to Criminal Justice 2
could work through their issues to repair their friendship. Right as she was about to pull into Dan’s driveway, she looked down, as her phone text message noise sounded, and she hit Dan with her car. Kristina was charged with murder.
Make sure to include an introduction to your essay. Do not just copy and paste the above scenarios into your assignment. Make sure you fully explain what the actus reus and mens rea are, whether or not you believe the person is guilty or not guilty, and your justification for each. You can utilze headings to break up your essay, if you so choose.
Your essay must be at least two pages in length. All sources must be cited in APA style on a separate reference page. The reference page does not count toward the two-page requirement.
