What does it mean to say that a mistake can be a defense? Discuss the debate over whether or not mistakes should be called a defense
What will be an ideal response?
Mistake is a defense whenever the mistake prevents the formation of any fault-based mental attitude, namely purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence. 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 that 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 in this sense are sometimes called failure-of-proof defense because defendants usually present enough evidence to raise a reasonable doubt that the prosecution has proved that the defendant formed the mens rea required for criminal liability.
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