Culpable Homicide - Key Definitions

Question 1

Define homicide as per statute?

Answer 1

S158 CA 1961
Homicide is the killing of a human being by another, directly or indirectly, by any means
whatsoever.

Question 2

What are the implications for organisation where homicide has taken occurred?

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Answer 2

• Manslaughter; an organisation can be convicted as a party to the offence (section 66(1))
• Murder, an organisation cannot be convicted as either a principal
  offender or a party to the offence. This is because the offence carries a mandatory life sentence.

Question 3

In relation to the definition of Homicide what does the Case Law “Murray Wright Ltd” state?

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Answer 3

Because the killing must be done by a human being, an organisation (such as a
hospital or food company) cannot be convicted as a principal offender:

Question 4

Outline the statute related to the time at which a child becomes a human being? What is the implication?

Answer 4

** S159 CA1961**

(1) A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother, whether it has breathed or not, whether it has an independent circulation or not, and whether the navel string is severed or not.
**(2) **The killing of such child is homicide if it dies in consequence of injuries received
before, during, or after birth.

Question 5

What does culpable homicide mean

Answer 5

The killing is blameworthy. It includes murder, manslaughter or infanticide.

Question 6

Identify the the Act and Section that defines Culpable homicide?

Answer 6

S160 CA1961

Question 7

Outline S160(1)?

Answer 7

(1) Homicide may be either culpable or not culpable.

Question 8

Outline S160(2)?

Answer 8

**(2) **Homicide is culpable when it consists in the killing of any person—
(a) By an unlawful act; or
**(b) ** By an omission without lawful excuse to perform or observe any legal duty; or
(c) By both combined; or
(d) By causing that person by threats or fear of violence, or by deception, to do an
act which causes his death; or
(e) By wilfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person.

Question 9

Outline S160(3)?

Answer 9

(3) Except as provided in section 178 of this Act, culpable homicide is either murder ormanslaughter.

Question 10

Outline S160(4)?

Answer 10

(4) Homicide that is not culpable is not an offence.

Question 11

Define an Unlawful Act, as per statute?

Answer 11

S2 CA61
Unlawful Act – means a breach of any Act, regulation, rule, or bylaw.

Question 12

In relation to an Unlawful Act, what do you need to prove culpable homicide?

Answer 12

To prove culpable homicide under section 160(2)(a) you need to prove death was caused (at least in part) by the breach of an Act, regulation, rule or
bylaw.

Question 13

In relation to an unlawful act outline R v Myatt?

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Answer 13

[Before a breach of any Act, regulation or bylaw would be an unlawful act under s 160 for the purposes of culpable homicide] it must be an act likely to do harm to the deceased or to some class of persons of whom he was one.

Question 14

What did the Court say in R v Lee confirm?

Answer 14

R v Lee confirmed that the act must be objectively dangerous.
That is, would a reasonable person in the shoes of the defendant know the
risk of harm existed? It was also held that “some” harm means “more than trivial” harm.

Question 15

Outline s150A?

Answer 15

Section 150A applies to any case where the unlawful act requires proof of negligence, or is a strict or absolute liability offence.

Question 16

Must Know

In relation to s150A, what situations have allegations of culpable homicide been supported?

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Answer 16

In common law, allegations of culpable homicide have been supported where the offender has caused death by:
* committing arson
* giving a child an excessive amount of alcohol to drink
* placing hot cinders and straw on a drunk person to frighten them
* supplying heroin to a person who subsequently dies from an overdose
* throwing a large piece of concrete from a motorway overbridge into the
path of an approaching car
* conducting an illegal abortion where the mother dies

Question 17

s160(2)(b) relates to omissions to perform legal duty. Outline what this means?

Answer 17

Culpable homicide includes any death caused by an omission, without lawful excuse, to perform or observe any legal duty as defined by s160(2)(b).

This covers cases where nothing is done when there is a legal duty to act,
and certain cases of positive conduct accompanied by a failure to discharge a
legal duty, in particular a duty of care

Question 18

What does legal duty refer to?

Answer 18

The expression “legal duty” refers to those duties imposed by statute or common law including uncodified common law duties

Question 19

Duties imposed by statute are mainly common law duties that have been embodied in statute. what does the CA61 define them as?

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Answer 19

• provide the necessaries and protect from injury (s151)
• provide necessaries and protect from injury to your charges when you are a parent or guardian (s152)
• provide necessaries as an employer (s153)
• use reasonable knowledge and skill when performing dangerous acts, such as surgery (s155)
• take precautions when in charge of dangerous things, such as machinery (s156)
• avoid omissions that will endanger life (s157).

Question 20

In relation to s160(2)(d), what did the court identify in R v Corbett?

Answer 20

In R v Corbett the Court identified that “the victim’s conduct must be such that it could be reasonably foreseen, is proportionate to the threat, or is “within the ambit of reasonableness. Although the victim might do the wrong thing or act unwisely, it is sufficient if the reaction is “in the
foreseeable range.”

Question 21

In relation to s160(2)(d), what did the court say in R v Tomars?

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Answer 21

formulates the issues in the following way:
1. Was the deceased threatened by, in fear of or deceived by the defendant?
2. If they were, did such threats, fear or deception cause the deceased to do the
act that caused their death?
3. Was the act a natural consequence of the actions of the defendant, in the
sense that reasonable and responsible people in the defendant’s position at the
time could reasonably have foreseen the consequences?
4. Did these foreseeable actions of the victim contribute in a [significant] way to
his death?

Question 22

Provide examples in respect of s160(2)(d)?

Must know

Answer 22

Examples of culpable homicide caused by actions prompted by threats, fear of violence or deception are when a person:
* jumps or falls out of a window and dies because they think they are going to be assaulted
* jumps into a river to escape an attack and drowns
* who has been assaulted and believes their life is in danger, jumps from a train and is killed.

Question 23

In relation to S160(2)(e), what is wilfully frightening regarded as?

Answer 23

“Wilfully frightening” is regarded as “intending to frighten, or at least be reckless as to this”.

Question 24

In relation to wilfullty what does Simester and Brookbanks suggest?

Answer 24

Simester and Brookbanks
suggest “wilfully” would require that the offender intended to frighten, or is at least subjectively reckless as to the risk of that. Mens rea should be interpreted as applying to all the elements in s160(2)(e), so that the defendant must at least have been aware of a real risk that the victim is under 16 or sick.

Question 25

s163 deals with a person who mentally tortures another person, who is already mentally or physically sickk, so that the victim has a mental breakdown and commits suicide. provide an example?

Answer 25

A man took tests at a hospital for an ongoing stomach complaint. “For a joke”, a hospital employee sent him a letter saying he had terminal, inoperable cancer. If the man had, as a consequence, committed suicide, the
sender of the letter could be charged under s163.

Question 26

What must be proved for proof of death?

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Answer 26

To establish the death, you must prove the:
* death occurred
* deceased is identified as the person who has been killed
* the killing is culpable
Death can be proved by direct and/or circumstantial evidence.

Question 27

Where a body is not located, what did the court say in R v Horrey?

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Answer 27

Death should be provable by such circumstances as render it morally certain and leave no ground for reasonable doubt – that the circumstantial evidence should be so cogent and compelling as to convince a jury that upon no rational
hypothesis other than murder can the facts be accounted for

Question 28

Some acts are “justified” even when they result in death. s2 provides that when an act is justified the perpetrator is exempt from criminal and civil liability. Provide examples of such acts?

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Answer 28

Examples of such acts include:
* homicide committed in self-defence (s48)
* homicide committed to prevent suicide or commission of an offence which would be likely to cause immediate and serious injury to the person or property of any-one (s41).