Transferred malice is a legal concept that refers to the situation where a person intends to commit a crime against one person, but actually ends up harming a different person instead.
In such cases, the law recognises that the person's intent was still to harm someone, even though they ended up harming a different individual. As a result, the law may hold the person responsible for the harm caused to the unintended victim.
For example, suppose that a person intends to shoot someone with a gun, but misses the intended target and hits a bystander instead. Even though the person did not intend to harm the bystander, the law may still hold them responsible for the harm caused to the bystander, as the person's intent to harm someone was still present.
Transferred malice is often used in cases of murder or manslaughter, where a person intends to harm one person but ends up causing the death of another. In such cases, the law may hold the person responsible for the death of the unintended victim, even though they did not intend to kill that person specifically.
You can learn more about this topic and relevant case law with our Criminal Law notes.
