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A common motive for arson is to commit insurance fraud. [1] [2] [3] In such cases, a person destroys their own property by burning it and then lies about the cause in order to collect against their insurance policy. [4] A person who commits arson is referred to as an arsonist, or a serial arsonist if the person has committed arson several times.
In criminal law, actus reus (/ ˈ æ k t ə s ˈ r eɪ ə s /; pl.: actus rei), Latin for "guilty act", is one of the elements normally required to prove commission of a crime in common law jurisdictions, the other being Latin: mens rea ("guilty mind"). In the United States, it is sometimes called the external element or the objective element ...
Title 18 of the United States Code is the main criminal code of the federal government of the United States. [1] The Title deals with federal crimes and criminal procedure.In its coverage, Title 18 is similar to most U.S. state criminal codes, typically referred to by names such as Penal Code, Criminal Code, or Crimes Code. [2]
A forcible felony, in the criminal law of various US states, is a felony that is subject to special penalties because it involves the use or threat of physical force. Forcible felonies are defined by statute. Typical examples of forcible felonies include murder, arson, rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery. [1]
Corpus delicti (Latin for "body of the crime"; plural: corpora delicti), in Western law, is the principle that a crime must be proven to have occurred before a person could be convicted of having committed that crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can be proven that property has been stolen.
In many states in the United States, it is impossible, as a matter of law, to attempt to commit a crime whose underlying mens rea is only recklessness. [8] For example, in State v. Lyerla , the defendant Lyerla randomly shot into a truck 3 times after being goaded by the driver of the truck. [ 13 ]
In the criminal law of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. Hate itself is not a hate crime but committing a crime motivated by bias against one or more of the social groups listed above, or by bias against their ...
In most common law jurisdictions, an element of a crime is one of a set of facts that must all be proven to convict a defendant of a crime. Before a court finds a defendant guilty of a criminal offense, the prosecution must present evidence that, even when opposed by any evidence the defense may choose, is credible and sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed ...