Social Sciences and the Law

What is motive?

Link to this answer

CloseClose

Link to this answer

Share this credible answer with others. Simply paste this code into your blog or Web page:

<a href="http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/question/motive-128887.html" >What is motive?</a>
E-mail this answer Link to this answer

Except as otherwise provided by statute, to constitute a crime an overt act (actus reus) must be accompanied by a criminal intent (mens rea) or by such negligence as is regarded by law as equivalent to a criminal intent. Motive, or that which leads or tempts the mind to indulge in a criminal act, as distinguished from intent, is neither a crime nor an essential element of a crime. The motive with which an offense was committed is immaterial. Proof of motive may be material in proving that the defendant committed a particular crime, but it is not essential to a conviction.

Answer verified with
Get more facts and information about criminal law . Or, view the full encyclopedia entry from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.

Similar questions: What is proof of motive? What defines motive? [ Hide these questions ]

Related research questions

Related research articles

Motive Communications of Austin, Texas, Accuses Peregrine Systems of Fraud.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News ...time high-flying software giant. Motive Communications Inc. sued Peregrine on...filed in state District Court in Austin, Motive said it gave Peregrine access to its software...company was once valued at $9 billion. Motive said it hasn't been able to sell the...
Coping motives as a moderator of daily mood-drinking covariation *.
Magazine article from: Journal of Studies on Alcohol MOTIVES HAVE BEEN DEFINED as the "final common...Klinger (1988; p. 168). Among the motives identified as driving drinking behavior...among impaired populations, DTC (coping motives) has also been associated with drinking...
MOTIVE INCORPORATES WESTELL'S DSL MODEM DIAGNOSTICS.
Newspaper article from: Modem User News Motive Communications, Inc. (http://www.motive.com/ ), a provider of intelligent service software...diagnosing modem connectivity. Along with recently announced Motive relationships with network monitoring and broadband equipment...
Drinking motives as mediators of the link between alcohol expectancies and...
Magazine article from: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs ...specific expectancies and motives other than tension reduction...expectancies and social motives, although the latter is the most frequently cited motive among young people (Kuntsche...aims to confirm that coping motives mediate the link between...
Drinking motives as mediators of the link between alcohol expectancies and...
Magazine article from: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs ...specific expectancies and motives other than tension reduction...expectancies and social motives, although the latter is the most frequently cited motive among young people (Kuntsche...aims to confirm that coping motives mediate the link between...
See all results at HighBeam

HighBeam gives you access to newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles plus press releases, facts, information, and biographies from thousands of sources.