Which statement best describes Mayhem?

• A. Mayhem requires only property damage
• B. Mayhem is a non-violent offense
• C. Cutting or mutilating a body member with intent to disable or disfigure, causing great bodily harm
• D. Willful burning of property

Answer: (C)

Mayhem focuses on an intentional, serious act of injuring a person by mutilating or disabling a body part, with the aim to disfigure and the result being great bodily harm. The statement that best describes it captures all of that: cutting or mutilating a body member with the explicit intent to disable or disfigure, causing great bodily harm. This combines the act (cutting or mutilating), the mental state (intent to disable or disfigure), and the consequence (great bodily harm), which is why it fits Mayhem.

The other ideas describe different sorts of offenses. Damaging or burning property involves harm to property, not a person, and would be categorized as a property crime or arson. A non-violent offense wouldn’t involve causing bodily harm. The core distinction is that Mayhem is about purposeful, severe bodily injury to disable or disfigure, not about property.