Discuss what is required for mistake to be a defense. How does this relate to the types of culpability in the Model Penal Code? Be sure to discuss the debate over whether to call mistakes a defense

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Mistake is a defense whenever the mistake prevents the formation of any fault-based mental attitude, namely purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence. There's a debate over whether to call mistakes a defense. On one side are those who say what the defendant did was wrong, but her mistake excused her; they call mistake a defense of excuse. The other side says the mistake prevented the formation of a culpable state of mind; they say there's no crime at all because the mental element is missing. It's impossible to have a defense to conduct that's not criminal conduct in the first place. They're not really defenses, in the sense that they either justify or excuse criminal liability. Instead, mistakes raise a reasonable doubt that the required mental element for criminal conduct is present. Mistakes sometimes are called a failure-of-proof defense because defendants usually present some evidence that the mistake raises a reasonable doubt about the formation of a mental element required for criminal liability.