What does the doctrine of concurrence require in criminal law?

• A. The mental state must accompany the criminal act for a crime to be charged.
• B. The judge's concurrence with the jury.
• C. A concurrence of suspects in a single offense.
• D. The alignment of law and policy.

Answer: (A)

Concurrence means the defendant’s criminal intent (mens rea) must be present at the same moment as the prohibited conduct (actus reus) for a crime to be charged. The act and the mental state have to co-occur so that the culpable mindset drives the unlawful act.

Think of it this way: if someone plans to burglary and actually enters with that purpose, both the intent and the entry happen together, satisfying concurrence. If there’s only a plan or only an action done for a lawful reason, there’s no crime because the necessary link between mens rea and the actus reus isn’t present. For crimes that require recklessness or negligence, the mental state must accompany the specific conduct that produces the harmful result; the reckless or negligent mindset must be present during the act that causes the harm.

Contextually, this principle helps prevent punishing thoughts or isolated intentions that never translate into a harmful act. It also underpins how we treat attempts: there is clear concurrence when a person with intent undertakes an overt step toward completing the crime.