Kamali’s talk will explore the role of mens rea, broadly defined, as a factor in jury assessments of guilt and innocence from the early 13th through the 14th century, the first two centuries of the English criminal trial jury. Drawing upon evidence from the plea rolls, but also relying heavily upon non-legal textual sources such as popular literature and guides for confessors, Kamali argues that issues of mind were central to jurors’ determinations of whether a particular defendant should be convicted, pardoned, or acquitted outright.
Sponsored by Medieval Studies.
Elizabeth Kamali is Assistant Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where she teaches criminal law and English legal history. Professor Kamali’s research focuses on the medieval English common law and the history of criminal law, with a particular interest in the early criminal trial jury.