Also known as: malefactors · wrongdoer · offender
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who commits a wrongful or criminal act. The term identifies the actor responsible for conduct that violates legal duties or inflicts harm on others.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Carrie threatened to abandon Barry, her ill employer, unless he signed a new will leaving his estate to her. Barry executed the document under that pressure. Carrie functioned as the malefactor whose coercion invalidated the transfer.
Luca filed a criminal complaint against Maya alleging theft without probable cause and solely to harass her. Maya was acquitted after the charges were dismissed. Luca acted as the malefactor whose conduct completed malicious prosecution.
Timothy, age seventeen, set fire to a construction site and killed a foreman. Prosecutors sought the death penalty despite his age. Timothy was the malefactor whose juvenile status barred capital punishment.
Carrie told Barry she would stop managing his care unless he changed his will in her favor. Barry signed under the threat. Carrie served as the malefactor whose duress procured the donative transfer.
Jared told Kenneth that Elizabeth faced fraud charges that would bar her inheritance. The report was false and unverified. Jared operated as the malefactor whose misrepresentation procured the trust amendment by fraud.
Reynolds continued plural marriages after Congress criminalized the practice in the territories. Federal prosecutors charged him under the statute. Reynolds stood as the malefactor whose conduct tested the limits of religious exemption claims.
A malefactor is a person who commits a wrongful or criminal act. The term appears in historical and modern sources to identify the individual responsible for the conduct that gives rise to liability.
Supporting sources
Courts examine whether a malefactor used undue influence, duress, or fraud to procure a donative transfer. When such conduct is shown, the transfer is invalid to the extent it resulted from the malefactor's actions.
Yes. The term labels the person whose conduct satisfies the elements of offenses such as theft by extortion or malicious prosecution. Liability attaches once the malefactor's purpose and actions are established.
Supporting sources
…intended is guilty as an accomplice. "Art. 1193. Attempt at abortion "If the means used shall fail to produce an abortion, the offender is nevertheless guilty of an attempt to produce abortion, provided it be shown that such means were calculated to produce that result, and shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more…