Opinion ID: 1345038
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: General Intent and Criminal Negligence

Text: Section 20 provides, In every crime or public offense there must exist a union, or joint operation of act and intent, or criminal negligence. (See also § 26, subd. Five [persons incapable of committing crime include those who committed the act or made the omission charged through misfortune or by accident, when it appears that there was no evil design, intention, or culpable negligence].) Intent can be either general or specific. When the definition of a crime consists of only the description of a particular act, without reference to intent to do a further act or achieve a future consequence, we ask whether the defendant intended to do the proscribed act. This intention is deemed to be a general criminal intent. When the definition refers to defendant's intent to do some further act or achieve some additional consequence, the crime is deemed to be one of specific intent. ( People v. Hood (1969) 1 Cal.3d 444, 456-457, 82 Cal.Rptr. 618, 462 P.2d 370.) General criminal intent thus requires no further mental state beyond willing commission of the act proscribed by law. Criminal negligence is `aggravated, culpable, gross, or reckless, that is, ... such a departure from what would be the conduct of an ordinarily prudent or careful [person] under the same circumstances as to be incompatible with a proper regard for human life....' ( People v. Penny (1955) 44 Cal.2d 861, 879, 285 P.2d 926.) Under the criminal negligence standard, knowledge of the risk is determined by an objective test: `[I]f a reasonable person in defendant's position would have been aware of the risk involved, then defendant is presumed to have had such an awareness.'( Williams v. Garcetti (1993) 5 Cal.4th 561, 574, 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 341, 853 P.2d 507, italics omitted; Walker v. Superior Court (1988) 47 Cal.3d 112, 136, 253 Cal.Rptr. 1, 763 P.2d 852 [criminal negligence must be evaluated objectively].) Under section 20, criminal negligence may be sufficient to make an act a criminal offense, without a criminal intent. (1 Witkin & Epstein, Cal.Crirninal Law (2d ed. 1988) Elements of Crime, § 113, p. 133.)