Court Opinion

ID: 9535479
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:50:01.292931+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:15.788134
License: Public Domain

ON -CRIMINAL PETITION TO TRANSFER
GIVAN, Justice,
concurring in result.
I concur with the result in this opinion. The Court of Appeals' opinion is somewhat confusing concerning mens rea but the result of the case nonetheless is correct because the evidence showed that Keihn actually had knowledge that his license had been suspended. Therefore a great deal of the discussion about mens rea or the lack thereof is dictum and in my opinion inaceu-rate. I have the same difficulty with the majority opinion herein.
I hold firmly to the position that mens rea is a necessary element in absolutely every criminal case. See, e.g., 21 Am.Jur.2d Criminal Law § 129 et. seq., (1981). Even there, some of the cited cases show a continuing confusion concerning mens rea. What is often described as a lack of need for mens rea merely demonstrates a misunderstanding of what constitutes mens rea.
For instance, when a person deliberately drives his automobile with reckless disregard for the safety of others, resulting in an accident fatal to another person, he can be found guilty of manslaughter or reckless homicide. It is true he had no intent or mens rea to kill another human being. Instead, his successful prosecution depends upon the finding of the intent to drive with reckless disregard for the safety of others.
I know of no case which correctly sets forth the proposition that any crime can be prosecuted despite a total absence of mens rea. In some cases we find the statement that no mens rea is required, but when one examines the facts of the case it becomes apparent that the mens rea is inferred from the. commission of a certain act. An example often repeated by this Court is the inference of the intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon in a manner calculated to cause severe injury or death. These same principles apply to the case at bar.
I am in total agreement with the statement in the majority opinion that there must be at least an inference that a person has received notice that his license has been suspended. The trouble with the majority opinion is the total confusion that it engenders in arriving at that decision. I merely would make the statement that mens rea, whether it be specific or inferred, is absolutely required in every criminal case and that the State provided such proof in the prosecution of Keihn.