KNOWLEDGE

Information as to a matter or fact.

Many acts are perfectly innocent when the party performing them is not aware of certain circumstances attending them. For example, someone may pass a counterfeit note and be criminally guiltless if they did not know it was counterfeit. Or someone may receive stolen goods if they were not aware of the fact that they were stolen. In these types of cases it is the guilty knowledge, or scienter, which makes the crime.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.