Stark v. Superior Court
Supreme Court of California
257 P.3d 41 (2011)
Relevant factsFree
County auditor-controller Stark (defendant) was indicted on multiple counts of financial misconduct, including unauthorized transactions between county funds, and moved to dismiss on the ground that he did not know the transactions were unauthorized; the trial court and court of appeals allowed most charges to proceed but disagreed on the required mental state, prompting the California Supreme Court to grant review.
IssueFree
Whether statutes criminalizing a public official's unauthorized actions, or failures to act when legally bound to do so, require a mens rea of either actual knowledge or criminal negligence in failing to know.