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by ungamedplayer 640 days ago
Because intent is in the mind of the observer, not the mind of the person allegedly committing the crime.
2 comments
AnimalMuppet 640 days ago
I may be misunderstanding you, but taking your statement at face value:

Legally, no. The legal question of intent is exactly the question of what was going on in the mind of the person allegedly committing the crime.

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ungamedplayer 639 days ago
Right. But the judgement comes from a third party.

We as a society definitely judge peoples intent without knowledge into peoples mind, assumptions are made ( correctly or incorrectly ).

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snakeyjake 640 days ago
The observer has very little to do with establishing intent.

I even looked up Australia's definition to make sure it was the same as everyone else's: https://www.ag.gov.au/crime/publications/commonwealth-crimin...

(it's the same)

The only reason I used "very little" is because it is possible for an observer to witness the subject yelling "I intend to kill you!!!!" at the top of their lungs and in that case the observer could be useful at establishing intent.

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