Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
7-18-2012
SSRN Discipline
Economics Research Network; Legal Scholarship Network; Criminal Law & Procedure eJournals; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Public Law eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Cognitive Science Network
Abstract
Sets forth and discusses the concept of superimposed mens rea criminal intent that is not the actors own which can afflict victims of thought reform and brainwashing Establishes the plausibility of such a concept through a number of examples Reviews existing legal doctrines to understand how analogous concepts can relieve the actor of liability in similar settings Concludes that the presence of an implanted mens rea may form the basis for a tenable legal defense theory Offers criteria for determining when such a transfer of mens rea has occurred and considers possible objections to a new defense
Recommended Citation
Richard Delgado,
Ascription of Criminal States of Mind: Toward a Defense Theory for the Coercively Persuaded ('Brainwashed') Defendant,
(2012).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/244