Under the common law,a corporation could be found guilty of a crime due to the existence of mens rea.

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Under the common law,a corporation could not be considered a criminal because it was not an actual person and thus did not have a "mind." Consequently,it could not meet the mens rea (guilty-mind)requirement for a crime.Slowly,however,courts began to impose liability on corporations for strict-liability offenses,those offenses that do not require state of mind.Next,courts imposed liability on corporations by imputing the state of mind of the employees to the corporation.

Under the Common Law,a Corporation Could Be Found Guilty of a Crime