Concepts of Motive and Intent in Criminal Law, Essay Example

The concepts of motive and intent are similar and completely different at the same time, as they relate to the process of criminal investigation. Both of these concepts are conductive to the progress of an investigation, in particular to the inclusion or elimination of criminal suspects. As defined by Legal Dictionary, motive is “something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.”(Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law) Thus, it is the motivation one is driven by for committing a crime. On the other hand, intent is defined as “the design or purpose to commit a wrongful or criminal act.”(Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law) Thus, it is the actual intention to commit a crime, which is usually considered before the planning stage of a crime. In order to differentiate between this two concepts, let us consider the following situation. If a person accidently fires a gun in the air on a Christmas Eve and this bullet kills someone by accident as well, this action results in a crime. However, the shooter did not have intent to kill anybody, thus he will not be convicted of first degree murder. Another instance of a good motive resulting in a crime could be found in the cases involving mercy. For example, if a mother forbade her terminally sick child to take medicine required for normal existence, this could result in a crime. The child would not be able to oppose to his mother and could get more ill, and even die. In this case, mother would not have intent to kill her child, but she would unconsciously do it.

References

(2009). Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://dictionary.getlegal.com

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