A man aims a loaded gun at a woman and fires, intending to kill her, yet misses and kills a nearby child. With what crime can he be charged and how can intent be proven in this situation? Explain.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There is one other form of intent developed at common law, known as the doctrine of transferred
intent. This doctrine of transferred intent applies to situations where a person intended to harm A but in
error harmed B. To prevent the defendant from escaping liability by claiming that he or she did not intend
to hurt B and therefore the element of intent is missing, courts developed the concept of transferred
intent. The concept means that the intent to harm a person who is not actually harmed is transferred to
the person who is. Thus, if the man shoots at a woman with the intention of harming her but misses and
kills a nearby child instead, under the doctrine of transferred intent, the man’s intent (to kill the woman) is
transferred to the child, so he cannot claim he is not guilty of a crime because he did not intend to kill the
child. He can then be charged with murder under the doctrine of transferred intent. He committed the act
(pulling the trigger), his purposeful intent to kill the woman is transferred to the child fulfilling the mens
rea requirement, the act and intent occurred simultaneously fulfilling the concurrence requirement, “but
for” his actions the harm would not have occurred fulfilling the cause requirement, and the death of child
fulfills the harm requirement. Therefore, all of the requirements are present to charge the man with
murder.