What are you pleading not guilty to if there's a video of you commiting the crime?
2007-05-16 05:12:00 · 4 answers · asked by damron 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Most crimes are made up of TWO parts that are required for the crime to have been committed. The first is "actus reas" or the guilty act. This is what you are referred to when you mention there being a video of something. The OTHER component, however, is mens rea. This is the "guilty mind." This does NOT mean that the perpetrator of the act has to "feel guilty" in his mind about it. What it means is that s/he has to have the requisite state of mind, along with the requisite guilty act, in order for a crime to have occurred. Most people who are pleading not guilty are either hoping to demonstrate that they did not have the requisite mental state at the time of the crime OR they are hoping that the prosecutor cannot prove either act or state of mind to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
2007-05-16 05:18:34 · answer #1 · answered by jurydoc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may have committed the crime, but what if the video shows you killing a person, but it doesnt show how they held a gun to your head beforehand? The video can still only show part of the actual event. If you killed in self defense, even if the video doesnt show it, you should plead not guilty.
2007-05-16 05:20:31 · answer #2 · answered by davidmsmock 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends what the video is showing you doing. It could show you in the area, and then it is for the prosecution to prove you are upto no good. Usually if the client is shown clearly to be doing something wrong, I usually persuade them, for their own good, to plead guilty
2007-05-16 05:17:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes there are mitigating circumstances surronding a crime. Sometimes things are not always as they appear. That's why.
2007-05-16 05:17:52 · answer #4 · answered by bunnicula 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋