A1- Murder

Question 1

Who gave the first definition of murder? And why is it not defined in an Act of Parliament?

Answer 1

Sir Edward Coke gave the first definition of murder in 1797. It is not defined in an Act of Parliament as it was defined in Common Law.

Question 2

What is the definition of Murder?

Answer 2

Murder is when a man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth within any county of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the King’s peace with malice aforethought, either expressed by the party or implied by law, so as the party wounded or hurt died of the wound or hurt, within a year and a day after the same

Question 3

What was meant by ‘when a man’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 3

Either a man or a woman

Question 4

What was meant by ‘of sound memory’

Answer 4

Not legally insane ..

Capable of making their own decision by law

Question 5

What is meant by ‘age of discretion’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 5

Over the age of 10 as this is the age of knowing right from wrong

Question 6

What is meant by ‘within any county’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 6

This originally meant anyone within the UK but now means any British citizen can be tried in England for any murder they committed outside of the country

Question 7

What is meant by ‘reasonable creature in rerum natura’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 7

The victim must be a living human being

Question 8

What is meant by ‘under the king’s peace’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 8

The accused will be tried against the ruling monarch whether that is a king or queen

Question 9

What is meant by ‘with malice aforethought’ in the definition of murder?

Answer 9

At the killing the accused must have the intent to kill or cause GBH. Preplanning or evil motive is not needed

Question 10

What was meant by ‘within a year and a day’s in the definition of murder?

Answer 10

If the victim died immediately or within a year and one day of the incident due to their injuries it could still be classed as murder
This was later abolished in 1996

Question 11

The ‘year and a day’s rule was abolished in 1996, why was this?

Answer 11

It was abolished due to advances in medicine and people staying alive for much longer while on life support

Question 12

What 2 elements determine murder?

Answer 12

The actus Reus and the Mens Rea determine murder

Question 13

Define the Actus Reus and give an example

Answer 13

The Actus Reus is the guilty act of the crime . This can be stealing, stabbing beating etc.

Question 14

What is the Mens Rea and give an example

Answer 14

This is the guilty mind of a crime. This is also known as the intent behind the crime. For example it can be the instant passion to hurt, planning in anger to murder, the planning to go and murder, carrying a knife to cause someone to bleed/ die/ be seriously injured

Question 15

List 3 actions that can lead to unlawful killing and apply AR to them

Answer 15

• Stabbing, the knife has fingerprints confirming that it was used in the murder
• Poisoning, the container will have a store attached to it and the purchase can be traced
• Lethal Blow (punch), finger prints/ DNA will be left on the victim

Question 16

What is an indicatable offense?

Answer 16

This is an offense that can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine if a grand jury is needed. This can be done for Murder, Rape, and Robbery

Question 17

What 2 categories do Offenses against the Person fall into

Answer 17

-Unlawful Homicide
-Lawful Homicide
As defined by the Homicide Act 1957

Question 18

What are the 4 instances in homicide is lawful

Answer 18

• killing in self defence
• war time to destroy the enemy
• interest of justice to make lawful arrest
• carrying out the lawful death sentence

Question 19

What are the 3 types of crime

Answer 19

• crime against people
• crime against vehicles
• crime against property

Question 20

What is causation

Answer 20

The defendants action must have caused the death of the victim. There are two types of this that must be proved

Question 21

What two types of causation must be proved in a murder case

Answer 21

Factual

Legal

Question 22

What is factual causation

Answer 22

An act or a circumstance that causes an event, which caused something else to happen, and this would not have occured if the act had not happened.
E.g. if Rob stabbed Rose , Rose would not have died

Question 23

What is legal causation

Answer 23

The act must be the legal cause / reason for death. Or in cases where there is more than one reason for death then that act must be the moof death st significant.

There must be no novous actus interveniens (no intervening acts

E.g. Rose had fallen many times that day and had an unseen brain damage but later that same day Rose had stabbed Rob. The stabbing is the most substantial cause of death

Question 24

What are intervening acts

Answer 24

An intervening act is an act or circumstance that is more significant than of the original act then the defendant is no longer the legal cause of death.

There are 3 types of intervening acts

Question 25

What are the 3 types of intervening acts

Answer 25

• acts of the victim
• acts of 3rd parties
• medical intervention

Question 26

Explain “acts of the victim” and give case law examples

Answer 26

This is where it can be seen that the victim was unreasonable in their means of escape thus causing their own death

• e.g. R v Roberts 1971- the victim was threatened with sexual assault so threw themselves out of the window. this was deemed reasonable thus the Robert was still liable for murder
• e.g. Williams and Davis 1992- they picked up a hitchhiker, who said that he was being robbed so he jumped out of the window. This was not looked at as there was no evidence of him being robbed, therefore robbery is not enough reason to jump out of a moving vehicle

Question 27

Explain “unreasonable action of a third party” and give case law example

Answer 27

If the defendant causes harm to the victim, and then someone else also does something else to harm the victim.

• e.g. R v Pagett 1983- he was not her cause of death but he contributed significantly to her death by using her as a human shield.
• e.g. R v Rafferty 2007 (appealed in 2009)- the defendant was acquitted of manslaughter as he did not kill nor participate in the killing. It was the co-defendants that drowned the victim, causing his death

Question 28

Explain “medical intervention” and give case law examples

Answer 28

if the original wound has healed but the victim later died due to the medical treatment they have been given then it is the medical teams fault.

• e.g. R v Jordan 1965 - the defendant stabbed the victim and the victim was taken to hospital. they had successfully treated the victim but the victim later died due to an allergic reaction to the drugs administered.
• e.g. R v Cheshire 1991 - accepted that the original injuries were no longer life threatening and the victim would not have died if he had received appropriate medical care . However, the need for a tracheotomy followed from the defendants original act which he still remains liable

Question 29

What is the definition of Mens Rea?

Answer 29

Mens rea means the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing. It is sometimes referred to as the mental element or guilty mind. to establish the mens rea for murder, it must be shown that the defendant intended to kill or cause Grievous Bodily Harm. This is different to the motive of a crime which is the reason for a cause of action.

Question 30

What are the 2 types of intent?

Answer 30

• Direct intent

- Oblique intent

Question 31

What is direct intent?

Answer 31

This is where you clearly intend for the criminal act to occur

i.e. Mercy killing is an example of direct intent as the direct intention is for that person to die.

Question 32

What is indirect intent?

Answer 32

This is where you do not necessarily want the act to occur but it is a virtual certainty of your conduct.

i.e robbing at knife point, it is greatly foreseeable that if something went wrong it could lead in the death of someone.

Question 33

What is Grievous bodily harm?

Answer 33

This is the severest form of assault. it is committed when a person unlawfully and maliciously either wounds another person or inflicts GBH upon another person. It is considered an either way offence, which carries a maximum penalty on indictment of 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine.