Aberratio ictus or mistake in the blow occurs when the offender delivered the blow at his

intended victim but missed, and instead such blow landed on an unintended victim. The situation
generally brings about complex crimes where from a single act, two or more grave or less grave
felonies resulted, namely the attempt against the intended victim and the consequences on the
unintended victim. As complex crimes, the penalty for the more serious crime shall be the one
imposed and in the maximum period. It is only when the resulting felonies are only light that
complex crimes do not result and the penalties are to be imposed distinctly for each resulting
crime.
Error in personae or mistake in identity occurs when the offender actually hit the person
to whom the blow was directed but turned out to be different from and not the victim intended.
The criminal liability of the offender is not affected, unless the mistake in identity resulted to a
crime different from what the offender intended to commit, in which case the lesser penalty
between the crime intended and the crime committed shall be imposed but in the maximum
period.
Praeter intentionem or where the consequence went beyond that intended or expected.
This is a mitigating circumstance when there is a notorious disparity between the act or means
employed by the offender and the resulting felony, i.e., the resulting felony could not be
reasonably anticipated or foreseen by the offender from the act or means employed by him.

The Criminal Defense of Mistake

In many situations, a criminal defendant may wish to argue that he or she
never intended to commit a crime and that the criminal act that occurred was
a result of a mistake of facts regarding the circumstances of the crime or a
misunderstanding concerning the law at the time. Such mistakes of fact can
be applied to a variety of criminal activities, but mistakes of law are only rarely
allowed as full defenses to criminal conduct.

Mistakes of Fact
Mistakes of fact arise when a criminal defendant misunderstood some fact
that negates an element of the crime. For instance, if an individual is charged
with larceny but believed that the property he took was rightfully his, this
misunderstanding negates any intent to deprive another of the property. One
important qualification, however, is that this mistake of fact must be honest
and reasonable. Thus, a defendant cannot later claim that he or she was
mistaken when he or she actually knew the situation. Likewise, the mistake
must be one that would appear reasonable to a judge or jury. If the same
individual was repeatedly told that the property was not his, and he could not
take it, it would no longer be reasonable for him to mistakenly have believed
that he could rightfully take the property.

Mistakes of fact may apply to a variety of crimes. Some crimes may set forth
that mistake of fact is a defense. Otherwise, if the criminal defendant can
prove that the mistake reasonably negated an element of the crime, the
defense will usually be held to apply and absolve the defendant of liability.

Mistake of Law
Mistake of law is a defense that the criminal defendant misunderstood or was
ignorant of the law as it existed at the time. The onus is generally placed on
individuals to be aware of the laws of their state or community, and thus this
defense only applies in very limited circumstances. For example, while a
defendant will not be able to claim that he was not aware that murder was a
crime, he may be able to argue that he was not aware of some obscure traffic
law.

Specifically, mistake of law can be used as a defense in four limited

circumstances:

 When the law has not been published;

 When the defendant relied upon a law or statute that was later
overturned or deemed unconstitutional;
 When the defendant relied upon a judicial decision that was later
overruled; or
 When the defendant relied upon an interpretation by an applicable
official.

Additionally, the defendant’s reliance on any of these sources must have been
reasonable, much like mistake of fact. Thus, a defendant cannot claim that he
was relying on a case from 200 years ago when it is apparent that there have
been subsequent developments in the law.

It is also important to note that, while reliance on an interpretation of an official

may include judges or federal or state agencies, it does not include reliance
on the statements of a private attorney. It is therefore important to ensure that
any attorney from whom you obtain advice is knowledgeable and trustworthy.

Transferred Intent
Transferred intent is a concept that allows for the guilt to follow the action,
regardless of who the victim is. That way, if Gus tries to kill Bill by shooting him, but
misses and kills Rick instead, Gus may be found just as criminally liable for the death
of Rick as he would have been for the death of Bill, had he succeeded in his
intention. The doctrine of transferred intent is borrowed from tort law and applied in a
criminal law context.
The overwhelming majority of transferred intent cases involve people missing their
true target with firearms or thrown projectiles of some kind, which led these cases to
be referred to as "bad aim" cases. However, if Claudius tries to kill Hamlet by poison and
his wife drinks the fatal cup instead, then the doctrine of transferred intent may allow
Claudius to be found as guilty of his wife's death as he would have been had be succeeded
in the murder of Hamlet. Likewise with arson, sexual assault, larceny and every other crime:
if the defendant perpetrates the act, and there is a victim, then the defendant may be
punished no matter who the victim was or was intended to be.
In general, criminal courts have restricted the use of the transferred intent doctrine to
situations of like kind. For example, if Gus tries to shoot Bill, but instead breaks
Rick's window and puts a hole in his wall, then Gus will probably not be found guilty
of malicious injury to property. His intention to harm Bill's person is of a different
kind than the desire to harm property, and therefor intent will probably not be
transferred.