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People v. Cabrera
Most crimes require a mens rea of reckless or above. As we previously saw, some regulatory crimes are strict liability with respect to certain elements, and others require negligence for certain elements. But few major crimes lower the mens rea to negligence for the key element defining the crime.
Homicide is different and includes negligent homicide--lower of course than reckless homicide. That is, the prosecutor need only prove the defendant should have been aware that his conduct presented a substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing death--rather than that he was actually aware of that risk as required by reckless homicide. Punishing someone for what they should have been aware of, rather than what they were aware of, creates difficulties and potential injustice.
The Model Penal Code and many jurisdictions therefore require a level of negligence higher than the civil negligence that will justify liability for a tort. This criminal negligence, sometimes called gross negligence, has some kind of plus factor making it more culpable than simple carelessness. The Court in Cabrera attempts to define the plus factor. As you read it, try to identify first how the MPC enhances negligence with a plus factor--which words in particular--and then similarly identify the plus factor as Cabrera defines it.
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