Question

The federal criminal code lists more than four thousand criminal offenses, all of which require a specific mental state.

T/F?

Answer 1

Answer is True.

Reason:

The person should be sane at the time of commiting crime and should be able to differentiate right from wrong.

If the person is proved insane then it can be used as a defense.

Insanity defense

(a) Affirmative Defense.—It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under any Federal statute that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.

(b) Burden of Proof.—The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence.

And another case can be an Involuntary act

For e.g. Perry is hypnotized at the local county fair. The hypnotist directs Perry to smash a banana cream pie into his girlfriend Shelley’s face. Smashing a pie into a person’s face is probably battery in most states, but Perry did not commit the act voluntarily, so he should not be convicted of a crime. Punishing Perry for battery would not specifically deter Perry from performing the act again while hypnotized because he is not in control of his behavior when experiencing this mental state.