Re:Convicted of sex crimes, but with no victims
by chongli on Friday August 28, 2020 @02:22AM
(#24301899)
In more typical cases it’s pretty clear cut.
Suppose you just finished working out in the gym, you’re in the locker room getting dressed, and you see a wallet and decide to steal it. Much to your dismay, when you get back to your car and look through the wallet you find your own ID and realize it’s your own wallet that you took. Well, despite your intention to commit a crime no crime has in fact taken place. You’re perfectly within your rights to take your own wallet home with you from the gym, even if you think you’re being sneaky about it.
This concept has a proper name in the law: actus reus [1]. Along with mens rea, it forms a two-part test to determine whether a crime has been committed in common law.
Suppose you just finished working out in the gym, you’re in the locker room getting dressed, and you see a wallet and decide to steal it. Much to your dismay, when you get back to your car and look through the wallet you find your own ID and realize it’s your own wallet that you took. Well, despite your intention to commit a crime no crime has in fact taken place. You’re perfectly within your rights to take your own wallet home with you from the gym, even if you think you’re being sneaky about it.
This concept has a proper name in the law: actus reus [1]. Along with mens rea, it forms a two-part test to determine whether a crime has been committed in common law.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actus_reus