Question

Henry and Jason got into a fistfight at a bar. Seeing the situation get out of control, the manager intervened and tried to separate the two men. During the attempt to stop the fight, Henry punched the manager in the face. Henry swears that he intended to punch Jason, and he punched the manager instead by accident.

Answer 1

In this case, we can establish actus reus because Jason and Henry were voluntarily fighting. Even though Henry did not intend to harm the manager, he did intend to harm Jason. Thus, Henry had “criminal intent” to hurt Jason, establishing mens rea. When a third party (the manager) got hurt in the process, Henry transferred his criminal intent from Jason to the manager. In this case, the action (actus reus) as well as the intention (mens rea) concur; thus, the authorities can charge Henry with the crime of assault.

Step-by-step explanation:

Plato