California First-Year Law Students' Exam (Baby Bar) — MCCriminal LawMedium
A technician, frustrated with a recurring error on a complex industrial machine, intentionally cuts a critical wire, causing the machine to malfunction and halt production. The technician knows this will cause significant financial losses for the company. What is the technician's mens rea regarding the damage to the machine?
- AGeneral Intent
- BNegligence
- CSpecific Intent
- DRecklessness
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. General Intent
General intent crimes require only that the defendant intended to perform the act that caused the harm. Here, the technician intentionally cut the wire, which is the act causing the damage, even if the specific outcome of 'significant financial losses' wasn't the precise target of their desire. Specific intent requires an intent to achieve a particular result.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Negligence involves a deviation from the standard of care, not an intentional act.
- C. Specific intent requires an intent to achieve a particular result beyond the act itself.
- D. Recklessness involves a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
General Intent
The intent to perform the physical act that constitutes the crime, regardless of whether the actor desires the specific result or knows that the result will occur.
- Focuses on the intent to do the act, not necessarily the outcome.
- Many common law crimes are general intent crimes (e.g., battery, arson).
- Distinguished from specific intent, which requires an intent to achieve a particular result.
Memory trick: Mind's crime, intent's design.