Is a claim that a defendant was not in a mental state when he committed a crime committed through misfortune or accident?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Varela, B293471 (Cal. App. 2020):
committed through misfortune or accident 'amounts to a claim that the defendant acted without forming the mental state necessary to make his . . . actions a crime." (People v. Jennings (2010) 50 Cal.4th 616, 674.)
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