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Entry: The Smoking Gun Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/the_smoking_gun#4996 Post contents: Mr "good grief" wrote: "Motive DOES matter in establishing guilt and this is and always has been admissable in our courts." 100 percent incorrect. (By the way, you misspelled "admissible") Call me "sophomoric" if you want to for other reasons, but I'm an American lawyer and have demonstrated at least some basic expertise in law. "Motive" is never, NEVER an element of any criminal offense. Intention, yes. Purpose, yes. But "motive", no. "Motives" can be considered by investigators, but evidence of "motive" is inadmissible in any criminal trial, because it's immaterial to the elements of any crime. Many legal deeds are done for bad motives, and some crimes are committed for morally good motives. The law doesn't care. Intention and motive are not the same thing. All the law cares about is what you did, and/or what you INTENDED to do, but the law does not consider "motive" to be an element of any crime. You gotta turn off the TV - that's where you got the idea that "motive" means something in criminal trials. I repeat, investigators can consider "motives", but prosecutors and triers-of-fact cannot. Sent at: 2008 09 06