Intention (criminal law) facts for kids

In criminal law, intent is about what someone was thinking and planning when they did something. It's like the "why" behind their actions. For some actions to be considered against the rules, a person must have had a certain intent. A fancy legal word for this is scienter, which means knowing you're doing something wrong.

Intent means that a person not only knows what might happen if they do something, but they also want that result to happen. When someone plans an action and wants a specific outcome, it's considered a serious kind of intent. This is because a person who plans things out might be seen as more of a concern than someone who acts without thinking.

How Do We Figure Out Intent?

It can be tricky to know what someone was truly thinking. When people plan actions, they might know many things could happen. So, if they go ahead with their plan, it means they are somewhat okay with all the things they expect to happen. These expected outcomes are part of their intent.

Let's imagine a situation: Sarah doesn't like her neighbor, Tom. She wants him to move away. One night, she pours gasoline on his front door and sets it on fire. Tom dies in the fire. Sarah is shocked and sad. She didn't plan for Tom to get hurt. She only wanted to make his house unlivable so he would leave.

But when we look at Sarah's actions, Tom's death might still be considered intentional. If Sarah truly wanted to avoid hurting Tom, she wouldn't have started the fire. She could have waited until Tom was gone or warned him. Instead, she started the fire at night when Tom was likely home and fewer people were around to help.

A court would think about what a normal, sensible person would expect to happen. A sensible person would know that setting a house on fire could hurt people inside. So, even if Sarah didn't directly want Tom to die, her actions made it very likely. The more certain a sensible person would be that harm could happen, the more likely a court might decide that Sarah intended the harm.

In some places, judges and juries look at all the evidence. They don't have to assume someone intended something just because it was a likely result. Instead, they decide if the person truly intended or expected the result based on everything they know.

Different Kinds of Intent

In law, intent can be described in different ways. Sometimes, it's about what you directly wanted to happen. Other times, it's about what you knew would almost certainly happen, even if it wasn't your main goal.

Direct Intent and Oblique Intent

• Direct intent: This is when you do something because you want a specific result. For example, if you throw a ball to hit a target, your direct intent is to hit the target.
• Oblique intent: This is when you do something, and you know that another result will almost certainly happen because of your action, even if that wasn't your main goal. Imagine you want to break a window to get into a building. Your main goal is to get inside, but you know breaking the window is a necessary step. So, you have an oblique intent to break the window.

Sometimes, when someone plans to achieve something, they have to take several steps. They are seen as intending all the steps needed for their plan. For example, if someone wants to get money from a life insurance policy by causing harm, they intend both the harm and the steps leading to it.

Unconditional and Conditional Intent

• Unconditional intent: This is what a person expects to happen as a result of their actions, without any special conditions.
• Conditional intent: This is what a person expects to happen, but only if a certain situation or condition occurs.

For example, a couple plans to have their wedding outdoors (unconditional intent). But they also book an indoor place just in case of bad weather (conditional intent). Their plan to be inside only happens if the weather is bad.

In a real court case, a person named Holloway was accused of taking a car. He said he only planned to use his weapon if the driver caused trouble. His unconditional intent was to take the car without hurting anyone. But his conditional intent was to take the car and cause harm if the driver didn't cooperate. The court decided that "intent" in the law could include both unconditional and conditional plans, depending on what the law was trying to achieve.

See also

In Spanish: Dolo para niños

• Negligence
• Recklessness (law)