Legal Definitions - transferred malice

Transferred malice is a legal principle, primarily found in criminal law, where a person's intent to harm one individual is "transferred" to another individual who is unintentionally harmed instead. This means that if someone intends to commit a crime against one person but accidentally causes the same type of harm to a different person, the law will treat the perpetrator as if they had intended to harm the actual victim.

The core idea is that the perpetrator's malicious intent (their blameworthy state of mind or intent to commit an unlawful act) is not negated simply because their aim was inaccurate or their plan went awry. The intent to cause harm still exists, and it is legally "transferred" to the unintended victim.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Accidental Injury in a Fight

  Imagine a situation where Alex intends to punch Ben during an argument. As Alex throws the punch, Ben quickly ducks, and the punch accidentally lands squarely on Carol, who was standing nearby and was not involved in the dispute. Under the principle of transferred malice, Alex's intent to assault Ben would be transferred to Carol. Even though Alex did not intend to hit Carol, the law would still hold Alex responsible for assaulting Carol because the intent to commit an unlawful act (assault) existed, and that act resulted in harm to another person.

• Example 2: Unintended Victim of a Shooting

  Consider David, who aims a firearm at Emily with the clear intent to cause her serious harm or death. David fires the weapon, but Emily moves suddenly, and the bullet misses her, instead striking and fatally wounding Frank, an innocent bystander who was walking past. In this scenario, David's malicious intent to harm Emily would be transferred to Frank. David could be charged with murder or a similar serious offense in relation to Frank's death, even though Frank was not the intended target, because the intent to kill or seriously injure existed and resulted in a death.