Editing Transferred intent (section)

=== In the United States ===
In United States criminal law, transferred intent is sometimes explained by stating that "the intent follows the [[bullet]]".{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} That is, the intent to kill a person by [[gunshot]] would still apply even if the bullet kills an unintended victim (''see [[mens rea]]'').{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In [[Law of Ohio|Ohio law]], the doctrine of transferred intent was held to be valid in ''[[Bradshaw v. Richey]]''.<ref name="BradshawVRichey">''[[Bradshaw v. Richey]]'', 546 U.S. 74 (2005)</ref>{{rp|p=77}} It cited the 1988 decision in ''State v. Sowell'', which said "if one purposely causes the death of another and the death is the result of a scheme designed to implement the calculated decision to kill someone other than the victim, the offender is guilty of aggravated murder", and concluded that the doctrine was "firmly rooted" in Ohio precedent dating to at least 1874.<ref name="BradshawVRichey" />{{rp|p=77}}<ref name="StateVSowell">''State v. Sowell'', 39 Ohio St. 3d 322 (1988)</ref>

A 1960s-era proposal, the [[Model Penal Code]], invited states to adopt a standard where an element of a crime could be established, even though:
*The offender caused the intended harm, but to a different person or item than the one they intended; or
*The offender caused "the same kind of injury or harm" as intended, in a manner that was "not too remote or accidental in its occurrence".<ref name="MPC1">American Law Institute. "Model Penal Code".</ref>{{rp|at=§ 2.03}}