I heard the same thing from an aalim when he was explaining the hadith 'all deeds will be judged by the intentions' .. he said that it means 'all good deeds will be judged by the intentions, all bad deeds will be judged by the act itself'.
There is more to that hadith. We often only hear "Innamal A'aamlo bin niyaat"
There is one more flavour that tells: "innamal A'aamalo bil khawaatim"
that is Actions depends upon their ending.
Mirch's logic is a better way for looking things in context.