Motive 1

Motive: It cannot Prove Intent

CJ230-07: Criminal Law
Unit 3 Project

Motive 2
Motive: It cannot Prove Intent
We have been given a scenario in which a wealthy woman is murdered. There was
no killer on the scene, so leads must be developed. Investigators will search for
evidence, interview her family, and determine who had motive to kill her.
Investigators discover that her estate is divided equally between her three
nephews, Hugh, Lou, and Stu. With this being said, all three men had motive to
kill her. The motive would be financial gain. Of the three nephews, one is
actually facing financial ruin. Lou’s company is going under, and his car and
house are about to be repossessed. None of the three men had an alibi for the time
of the murder, but, clearly, Lou had the strongest motive to kill his Aunt.
According to law, however, motive alone cannot prove intent. The police arrested
Lou in the scenario, but it was not a good arrest. There is not sufficient
evidence here to establish intent. It appears that Lou should be considered as a
suspect because he had motive, but his intent needs to be established before an
arrest can be made.
Motive is defined as a probable reason that a person had to commit a crime,
such as jealousy, greed, revenge, or part of a theft. Motive is not necessary to
prove a crime, but evidence of a motive is admissible at a trial. However, motive
does not have to be proven in trial because it is not an essential element of the
crime. Intent is the mental desire and will to act in a particular way. Intent is
a crucial element in determining if certain acts are criminal. For example, a lack
of criminal intent may result in a manslaughter charge being reduced to reckless
homicide or a lesser crime. A person must be acting with a guilty mind, or mens
rea, to have criminal intent in an act.
Motive 3
Motive: It cannot Prove Intent
We can see here that motive alone is never sufficient to prove intent, and motive
does not constitute intent. Motive, in no way, means that a person had any
intention of committing a crime. For example, I am a poor, single mother
struggling to feed my son. My sister is a clinical pharmacist. She has listed me
and my son as her beneficiaries on her insurance, and I will get her house, cars,
and any other possessions. If she were to be murdered, the police may say that I
have motive to kill her. That would be true; however, my sister and my son are the
most important people in the world to me. I would never hurt her. If the police
arrested me because I had motive, they would be doing horrible police work. My
example seems ridiculous, but it is no more ridiculous than the given scenario.
An officer must have probable cause to arrest a suspect. The officer must
truly believe, and have some evidence that the suspect committed the crime. He
cannot arrest the suspect on a “hunch.” In this particular case, there was never
any mention of any physical evidence to point to Lou. I cannot make any
assumptions, so I cannot say whether Lou is actually innocent or guilty, but he is
innocent until proven guilty under our criminal justice system. Therefore, if Lou
does not confess to the crime and the police cannot provide any evidence linking
him to the crime, they have no grounds to arrest him. The police need to develop
leads and do a full investigation before they start grasping at straws. In
closing, there were no grounds to arrest Lou, and he may even have a civil case
against the police department.
Motive 4
Motive: It cannot Prove Intent

References

www.law.com
www.dictionary.law.com
www.legal-definitions.com
Chamelin. N. (2003) Criminal Law for Police Officers
Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing