High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! An element of a crime is a basic set of common law principles regarding criminal liability that, with few exceptions, constitute the essential elements to prove that the defendant committed a crime under United States law. The jury must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed each element of the particular crime charged before deciding on a guilty verdict. The component parts that make up any particular crime vary depending on the crime. The basic components are listed below. However, the two generally necessary elements which must coexist for a crime to have occurred is that the defendant must have committed an act and that act must have been committed with intention.