Also known as: intend · intends · intended · intending · intents · intention · intentions · intentional · intentionally · intentio · mens rea · specific intent
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A conscious objective to engage in particular conduct or to cause a particular result.
Isaiah Ishikawa loads a rifle and aims it at his neighbor after a dispute. He fires a single shot that strikes and kills the neighbor. The deliberate aim and firing establish the conscious objective to cause death, satisfying the requirement for express malice.
Iain Irons sells land to Isabelle Inman. The deed contains no mention of a side promise that Irons would build a boundary fence. After closing, Inman sues to enforce the fence promise. The court examines whether the parties intended the promise to survive independently of the deed.
Imani Idowu sues Ideal Solutions for fraud arising from a misrepresented software license. The complaint alleges that the company knew its statements were false but does not detail every internal email. The rule permits the allegation of intent to be stated generally.
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Ibrahim Iqbal is charged with arson. The prosecution offers evidence that he previously set a controlled fire on an adjacent property to collect insurance. The evidence is offered to prove that the charged fire was set with the conscious objective of destroying the building for financial gain.
India Inoue is acquitted of arson. The state later charges her with insurance fraud arising from the same fire. Each offense requires proof of a fact the other does not, and the statutes address substantially different harms, so the prior acquittal does not bar the new prosecution.
An attorney learns that the client intends to present forged documents at trial. The lawyer knows the conduct is fraudulent and related to the proceeding. The rule requires the lawyer to take reasonable remedial steps, including disclosure to the tribunal if necessary.
Prosecutors prove intent by showing the defendant acted with the conscious objective to engage in the prohibited conduct or to cause the prohibited result. Direct evidence such as statements or conduct is often supplemented by circumstantial evidence.
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Intent is the mental state of purpose to commit the act or cause the result. Motive is the reason that prompts the act and is not an element of the offense.
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Yes. When alleging fraud or mistake, the circumstances must be pleaded with particularity, but malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of mind may be alleged generally.
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Evidence of other acts is admissible to prove intent when offered for a non-propensity purpose such as showing the defendant acted with the conscious objective to commit the charged offense.
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…sometimes they were. He believed none of those commissions were ever sent out or delivered to the persons for whom they were intended and did not know what became of them nor whether they were then in the Secretary's office. Mr. Lincoln, Attorney General, having been summoned and called, objected to answering and…