Malice

Have you ever heard of the legal saying that “the act is not criminal if the mind is not?” It simply means that a person will not be labeled as a criminal if he acted without malice.

Many defense counsels often argue before the jury that their client has a good background, and that he has not been charged of anything before. The reason for this is that he wants them to foster a doubt as to the likelihood that the accused person has indeed committed the act or acts complained of.

It is therefore important for the prosecution to dig deeply into the background of the accused in order to determine if he has a criminal record or not. They could not ignore this duty or strategy without jeopardizing their chances of winning the case. The fact that the burden of proving that the accused is guilty rests on the prosecution makes the search and investigation all the more crucial and imperative.