LAWS 2302 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7.2.1: Mescaline, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mens Rea
25 Mar 2016
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Mistake of fact: where the requisite mens rea of the crime has not been fulfilled. Any mistaken belief other than a mistake of law. Examples include erroneous beliefs about the meaning of some term or about the identity of some person. In criminal law, a mistake of fact can usually operate as a defense so long as it is reasonable. Royal canadian mounted police asking accused three justices of peace to take pleas from persons, usually american tourists, charged with narcotics and drug offences upon arrival aboard ferries from maine. The evidence showed the accused offered to sell two tablets of mescaline and did sell what he and the purchaser both believed to be mescaline; on analysis the tablets were found to be lsd: v. pappajohn. On a charge of rape the trial judge did not instruct the jury on the question of whether the accused had an honest but mistaken belief that the complainant had consented to intercourse.
