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Causation
Not every crime requires that the defendant cause a particular harm. Burglary is, more or less, breaking and entering at night with the intent to commit a felony. It is completed when the defendant acts with a culpable mental state. No felony need be committed as a result of the break-in; no harm need be caused.
But some crimes -- principally homicide -- require that the defendant cause a particular harm. In many of these cases, causation is easily shown; for example, the defendant stabbed or shot the victim and the victim died. In the ones below, we consider harder cases, where the link between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm is too attenuated to justly hold her responsible for it.
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