Dictionary of Legal Terms

Culpable Mental State

Synonymous with mens rea (guilty mind). Generally, a crime requires that a guilty act or omission (the actus reus) be committed with the required degree of guilty mind. Therefore, Ohio law provides that certain acts are crimes only if done with a particular state of mind, and that a certain sort of criminal act is more or less serious depending on the perpetrator's state of mind at the time. For example, consider the killing of one person by another person. That conduct may be 1) no crime (if done in self-defense), 2) a serious crime if done negligently (negligent homicide) and 3) the most serious sort of crime if done purposefully (murder). The four culpable (blameworthy) states of mind recognized by Ohio law-in ascending order of severity-are negligence, recklessness, knowledge and purpose. In order to convict the accused, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that, when he or she did the unlawful act charged, the accused did so with the state of mind required for the commission of that particular crime. A very few acts (strict liability offenses) are criminal, however they are done. See beyond a reasonable doubt, crime, murder, strict liability.

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This dictionary was developed by the Ohio State Bar Association with funding from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. The information contained in this dictionary is general and should not be applied to specific legal problems without first consulting your own attorney.

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