Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Elements of all crimes
Mens rea  · Actus reus  · Causation
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Criminal jurisdiction
Categories of crimes
Felony/Indictable
Misdemeanor/Summary
Hybrid offence  · Lesser included offense
Criminal negligence
Regulatory offences
Crimes against the person
Assault  · Battery  · Robbery
Kidnapping  · Rape
Mayhem  · Manslaughter  · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary  · Larceny  · Arson
Embezzlement  · False pretenses
Extortion  · Forgery
Crimes against justice
Bribery  · Perjury
Obstruction of justice
Misprision of felony
Inchoate offenses
Solicitation  · Attempt
Conspiracy  · Accessory
Defenses to crime
Self defense and defense of others
Necessity  · Duress
Mistake of law  · Mistake of fact
Insanity/mental disorder  · Automatism
Intoxication defense
Attendant circumstances
Other areas of the common law
Contract law  · Tort law  · Property law
Wills and trusts  · Evidence

An intoxication defense, in criminal law, is a defense by excuse, via which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were intoxicated. Depending on the nature of the crime, the effectiveness of the defense may hinge upon whether the defendant was subject to voluntary intoxication, or involuntary intoxication. Image File history File links SmallLadyJustice. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Mens rea is a Criminal Law concept which focuses on the mental state of the accused and requires proof of a positive state of mind such as intention, recklessness or wilful blindness, or criminal negligence. ... Actus reus is the action (or inaction, in the case of criminal negligence and similar crimes which are sometimes called acts of omission) which, in combination with the mens rea (guilty mind), produces criminal liability in common law based criminal law jurisdictions such as the United States, United Kingdom. ... In law, causation is the name given to the process of testing whether defendants should be fixed with liability for the outcome to their acts and omissions that injure or cause loss to others. ... Ignorantia juris non excusat or Ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for ignorance of the law is no excuse) is a legal doctrine holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape punishment for violating the law merely because they were unaware of the law; that is... Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in the law of criminal procedure to describe the power of a court to hear a case brought by the state accusing a criminal defendant of a violation of the law of the geographic area in which the court is located. ... A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. ... In many common law jurisdictions (e. ... A misdemeanors (or misdemeanour), in many common law legal systems, is a lesser criminal act. ... A hybrid offence or dual offence are the special offences in Canadian criminal law where the prosecution may choose whether to proceed with a summary offence or an indictment. ... A lesser included offense, in criminal law, is a crime for which all of the elements necessary to impose liability are also elements found in a more serious crime. ... Criminal negligence, in the realm of criminal common law, is a legal term of art for a state of mind which is careless, inattentive, neglectful, willfully blind, or reckless; it is the mens rea part of a crime which, if occurring simultaneously with the actus reus, gives rise to criminal... Regulatory offences are a class of crime in which the standard for proving culpability has been lowered so as not to require any fault elements. ... In many common law jurisdictions, the crime of battery involves an injury or other contact upon the person of another in a manner likely to cause bodily harm. ... Mayhem, under the common law of crimes, consisted of the intentional and wanton removal of a body part that would handicap a persons ability to defend themselves in combat. ... Larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ... Arson is the crime of setting a fire with intent to cause damage. ... False pretenses is a common law crime. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to his person, reputation, or property. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... Bribery is the practice of offering a professional or an authority person money or other favours in order to circumvent ethics or other rules in a variety of situations. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... Obstruction of justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... Misprision of felony, under the common law of England, was the crime of failing to report knowledge of a felony to the appropriate authorities. ... An inchoate offense is a crime. ... Solicitation is a crime; it is an inchoate offense that consists of a person inciting, counseling, advising, urging, or commanding another to commit a crime with the specific intent that the person solicited commit the crime. ... The crime of attempt occurs when a person does an act amounting to more than mere preparation for a criminal offense, with specific intent to commit a crime, if that act tends but fails to effect the commission of the offense intended. ... As a legal term, a conspiracy is an agreement of two or more people to commit a crime, or to accomplish a legal end through illegal actions. ... An accessory is a person who assists in or conceals a crime, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime. ... Self defense and defense of others (sometimes called alter ego defense or defense of a third person) are a pair of legal theories under which otherwise tortious or illegal acts may be justified when committed for the purpose of protecting oneself, or for the purpose of protecting another person. ... In criminal law, necessity is a possible excuse for breaking the law. ... Duress (coercion) (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible defense, via excuse, by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law. ... Mistake of law is a defense sometimes raised in criminal cases, although rarely with any success. ... Mistake of fact is an affirmative defense to a crime where the mistake negates the culpable mental state. ... In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill or mentally incompetent at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ... In criminal law of commonwealth countries, the defense of mental disorder - sometimes called the defence of mental illness - is a legal defence by excuse, by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were at the time of their... Automatism is a disassociative state where the individual suffering from it has no control over their actions. ... Attendant circumstances are a legal concept which Blacks Law Dictionary defines as the facts surrounding an event. ... A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... Property law is the law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions) and in personal property, within the common law legal system. ... In the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (eg. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ... In jurisprudence, an excuse is a defense in which a defendant argues that he or she was not liable for his or her actions at the time a law was broken and thus he or she should not be held liable for a crime. ... A defendant is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... A crime in a broad sense is an act that violates a political or moral law of any one person or social grouping. ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ... An action, as philosophers use the term, is a certain kind of thing a person can do. ... 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While it might seem incongruous or unfair to absolve a defendant of criminal liability because of his own voluntary intoxication, it is a well-settled principal under the common law that voluntary intoxication is a valid defense for all completed specific intent crimes and inchoate crimes such as attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy (since all inchoate crimes require specific intent.) The voluntary intoxication defense works by negating the necessary mens rea (evil mind) element in specific intent crimes. Simply put, the defendant pleads he was too intoxicated to have the appropriate mental intent to carry out the prohibited offense. Mens rea is a Criminal Law concept which focuses on the mental state of the accused and requires proof of a positive state of mind such as intention, recklessness or wilful blindness, or criminal negligence. ...

Example: Defendant X is charged with common law burglary, a specfic intent crime. The elements of burglary at common law are the "breaking and entering of a dwelling of another at nighttime with the intent to commit a felony therein." Defendant X raises the voluntary intoxication defense, pleading that he was drunk (or high) and therefore did not possess the requisite "intent to commit a felony therein" -- he was simply too drunk to control himself. If the state does not convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant did actually have a specific intention of "committing a felony therein" (i.e. the intent to steal versus simply breaking into anothers house to "raise hell"), the Defendant would be acquitted of burglary in a common law system.

However, voluntary intoxication is never a defense to general intent crimes, such as arson, rape, or murder, that require a mens rea of malice or recklessness rather than the specific intent to commit the offense. Beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest level of burden of persuasion typically employed in the criminal procedure. ... Mens rea is a Criminal Law concept which focuses on the mental state of the accused and requires proof of a positive state of mind such as intention, recklessness or wilful blindness, or criminal negligence. ...

An example of involuntary intoxication can be found in the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, in which Cary Grant's character is forced to drink bourbon. Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a British-born American film director and producer, closely associated with the suspense thriller genre. ... North by Northwest is a 1959 MGM thriller by Alfred Hitchcock and is generally considered one of his best works. ... Cary Grant Cary Grant (January 18, 1904 - November 29, 1986), was an English-American motion picture actor. ... Bourbon may refer to: Bourbon whiskey House of Bourbon Île Bourbon was the name of Réunion from 1642 until the French Revolution Places in the United States of America: Bourbon, Indiana Bourbon, Missouri Bourbon County, Kentucky Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Lousiana Bourbon-lArchambault is...