Crim Content Flashcards
What is involuntary manslaughter?
Where the defendant does not intend to kill or cause really serious harm.
What are the 2 types of involuntary manslaughter?
Unlawful act mansalughter
Gross negligence manslaughter
What is unlawful act manslaughter?
Unlawful act manslaughter is when a person unintentionally causes the death of another through an unlawful act.
What are the 4 elements of uam?
- Unlawful act
- Dangerous act
- The unlawful act must cause death/ be a substantive cause of death
- The Ds has the men’s Rea for the unlawful act
- Unlawful act- briefly describe this.
- if there is no unlawful act, there can be no conviction for unlawful act manslaughter ( R v Lamb)
- the unlawful act does not have to be an offence against the person it can be a property crime (Newbury and jones)
What is a dangerous act?
The unlawful act must be dangerous, however dangerous is not given in its ordinary and natural meaning given in R V Church.
Cases that can be used: R v Watson, R v Dawson and others
What was set out in R v church?
The court set an objective test for UAM.
The question: would the sober and reasonable person recognise the risk of some harm?
What is causation in UAM?
Ds unlawful act must be the factual and legal cause of the death.
R v white- factual
R v smith- legal
What is the case for the men’s Rea for the unlawful act?
Newbury and Jones
What is gross negligence manslaughter and how many elements are there?
Gross negligence manslaughter is a form of involuntary manslaughter and it has 6 key elements to be established.
What are the 6 key elements?
- duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Serious and obvious risk of death
- Risk was reasonably foreseeable at the time of the breach
- Causation
- Negligence
- Briefly describe duty of care
A duty of care is owed by the D to the V.
Use donoghue v Stevenson and the neighbour test (people closely and directly affected by the act)
- Briefly describe breach of duty
Breach of duty must have caused death. The defendants conduct will be judged against the standard of the reasonable man doing the same activity as the defendant. If he falls below the standard he will be breach of duty.
Nettleship v Western
- In R V Broughton how was serious and obvious risk of death defined?
- “Serious” risk means something more than minimal or remote, must be a risk of serious injury
- “obvious” risk is one which is clear, present and unambiguous
- What was said in R V Singh?
A “reasonable person would have foreseen an obvious risk of death.
The risk of death is assessed on an objective test.
- Briefly describe the causation
The defendant must be the legal and factual cause of the death and there must be no intervening acts.
- vs own actions
- medical treatment
- thin skull rule
- act of 3rd party
- Briefly describe the gross negligence
It is a subjective test by the jury. The test is whether the negligence shows such disregard for life and safety of others. ( R V Bateman)
What is the defence of duress?
Duress is where the defendant was forced to commit a crime against their will due to circumstance or because of threats made to them.
It is a full defence, so if successful the defendant is found not guilty.
What is duress not available for?
Murder
Attempted murder
Treason
What are the 2 defences to duress?
Threat of circumstances
Threat of death or serious harm/injury
What case were the key elements of duress by threats defined?
R v Hassan
What are the 6 elements in letters?
TTDDNN
What is the first element?
The defendant must fear death or serious injury
- psychological harm will not suffice on its own for the defence of duress
(R v Valderrama-Vega)
What is the second element?
Threats made to Ds immediate family or someone close to them.
R v Hurley and murray - threats to kill or seriously harm D’s girlfriend amounted to duress
- girlfriends and wives can be included.
What is the third element?
It is an objective test in R v Graham that asks “ was the Ds belief that he was under threat reasonable?”
The jury must consider a 2 stage process.
What is the fourth element?
D’s crime must have been directly causes by the threats.
( R v Cole)
What is the fifth element?
No evasive action is reasonably available to D
- Duress is available even when the threat cannot be carried out immediately, as long as the threat is operating on the defendants mind at the time of committing the offence
- the defendant must be so afraid of the consequences that he does not in fact go to the authorities
What is the last element?
The duress must not be self-induced (“ brought on yourself”)
- eg. the defendant has voluntarily put himself in a situation where he is likely to receive threats of violence
What is the defence of duress of circumstances?
It happens when the defendant is forced by the situation they find themselves in. The defendant must have believed that themself or those with them would suffer death or serious injury if he did not do what he did.
What is stated in the case of R v pompell?
Duress of circumstances is governed by the same principles as duress by threats.
Briefly describe self-defence
Self defence is available to any crime where force is a required element.
There are 3 key elements when establishing self defence.
What are the 3 key elements of self defence? (Pp-n-r)
- Did D use force for a permitted purpose?
- Was the force used necessary?
- Was the force used reasonable?
What is permitted purpose in self defence?
The defendant can use force to protect himself and/or others under the common law
D can use force to protect property
D can use force to prevent crime
What is necessary force in self defence?
Was the force used necessary? In the circumstances as D believes them to be?
R v Gladstone Williams
What is reasonable force in self defence?
It is under the criminal justice and immigration act 2008:
- the force must not be disproportionate
- a person acting for a legitimate purpose may not be able to weigh to a nicety
- D only doing what they thought distinctively and honestly necessary
(R v Clegg)
What happens if the 3 key elements of self defence are established?
It results in a full acquittal
