3.5 Actus Non Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit Rea

The act does not make guilty unless the mind is guilty — the elements' formula (Unit 4's world): no crime without the concurrence of actus and mens. Neither alone suffices: the evil mind without the act (mere intention) is no crime; the prohibited act without the guilty mind is, at most, strict liability (the exception — Unit 1.3.2). The concurrence requirement: the mens must accompany the act (the continuing-act and one-transaction solutions to the separation cases). Worked illustration: A buys poison intending to kill B (intention only — lawful); A later administers it by accident, not knowing it is the poison (act without the accompanying mens — the intent from months before does not attach to the administering); A administers it knowingly intending B's death (the concurrence — the crime).