CJS 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Mens Rea, Murder Of Kitty Genovese, Butcher Knife
8 Dec 2020
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And, why does the court say that, even if the issue had been raised, the jury should have received a cautionary instruction w. r. t. voluntary induced unconsciousness? . Different meanings of involuntary. involuntary can mean forced or coerced; but can also mean spasmodic . Voluntary act versus mens rea. although the doctrines of voluntary act and mens rea are related, they should not be confused. Mens rea involves the state of mind regarding the social harm of the offense; the act of voluntariness applies to the act that caused the social harm. Person knew he was subject to eplileptic seizures suffered an attack while driving and struck and killed 4 kids. Penal codes typically prohibit possession of specified substances or objects. But it is possible for a person to come into possession of such things involuntarily even in the absence of any conduct at all such as when a plants drugs in b"s purse.
