Also known as: material elements of an offense · material element · essential element · material fact element
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
An element of a criminal offense that relates to the harm or evil the law seeks to prevent or to a justification or excuse for the conduct rather than to limitations periods, jurisdiction, or venue.
Russell defended an assault charge by asserting that his peaceful character trait was central to his self-defense claim. He introduced three prior instances in which he had de-escalated confrontations. Because the trait constituted a material element of the defense, the court permitted proof through those specific instances of conduct.
Willie directed dumping of industrial soil at a landfill after reviewing only a partial permit summary. The charging statute required knowledge or recklessness regarding the prohibited character of the waste. Without that mental state as to the material element of industrial-waste status, Willie lacked the culpability necessary for conviction.
Maria planned to induce a witness to give false testimony about a fact she believed would influence the outcome of a proceeding. Because the statement would not have been material even if everything had unfolded as Maria intended, the essential element of materiality was absent and she could not be convicted of attempted subornation of perjury.
Marshall continued stomping on Uriah's chest after Uriah cried out in pain and despite the presence of nearby customers. Marshall consciously disregarded the substantial risk of death from repeated blows to the torso. That disregard established recklessness with respect to the material element of causing death.
Clear Plastics received a shipment containing a banned preservative and incorporated it into finished goods without knowledge of the contamination. The statute imposed liability solely on the presence of the preservative. Because absolute liability attached to that material element, the offense was reclassified as a violation rather than a felony.
Egelhoff sought to introduce evidence of voluntary intoxication to negate the mental state required for deliberate homicide. The state statute barred the evidence on the issue of purpose or knowledge. The Court upheld the exclusion because the material elements of the offense still required proof of the prescribed culpability.
On July 12, 1992, respondent James Egelhoff was camping in the Yaak region of northwestern Montana with Roberta Pavola and John Christenson to pick mushrooms. The three sold the mushrooms they had collected and spent the rest of the day and evening drinking in bars and at a private party in Troy, Montana. After leaving the party after 9 p.m. in Christenson's 1974 Ford Galaxy station wagon, the drinking continued, as Egelhoff was seen buying beer at 9:20 p.m. and recalled passing a bottle of Black Velvet with Christenson. Around midnight, officers of the Lincoln County sheriff's department discovered the station wagon stuck in a ditch along U.S. Highway 2. Pavola and Christenson were in the front seat, each dead from a single gunshot to the head. Egelhoff lay in the rear of the car, alive and yelling obscenities, with a blood-alcohol content of .36 percent measured over an hour later. His .38-caliber handgun lay on the floor near the brake pedal with four loaded rounds and two empty casings, and he had gunshot residue on his hands. Egelhoff was charged with two counts of deliberate homicide under Montana law requiring that he purposely or knowingly caused the deaths of another human being. At trial he claimed an unidentified fourth person must have committed the murders, that his extreme intoxication rendered him physically incapable of committing them, and that it accounted for his inability to recall the events. The trial court instructed the jury pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 45-2-203 that it could not consider respondent's intoxicated condition in determining the existence of a mental state which is an element of the offense. The jury found Egelhoff guilty on both counts and the court sentenced him to 84 years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court of Montana reversed the convictions. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseA material element relates to the harm or evil the statute seeks to prevent or to a justification or excuse. Elements that concern only limitations periods, jurisdiction, or venue are not material.
When absolute liability attaches to a material element of an offense defined outside the Model Penal Code, the offense is reclassified as a violation rather than a felony or misdemeanor.
A person is not guilty unless the required mental state accompanies every material element. Absence of purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence as to any material element defeats liability.
When a justification or excuse constitutes a material element, the prosecution must prove the required mental state with respect to facts negating that justification.
…addressed Congress' efforts to impede local activities it considered undesirable by prohibiting the interstate movement of some essential element. In the Lottery Case , 188 U. S. 321 (1903), the Court rejected the argument that Congress lacked power to prohibit the interstate movement of lottery tickets because it had power only to…