Diminished responsibility. Flashcards
under the act…
s.52 coroners and justice act 2009
type of defence, applicable to what
specific , partial defence applicable to murder
if successful…
voluntary manslaughter charge
first requirment
abnormality of mental functioning define as a state of mind so different from that of ordinary human beings that the reasonable man would term it abnormal (byrne)
second requirement
the abnormality of mental functioning arises from a medically recognised condition suffered at the time of the murder (gomez)
medically recognised conditions
depression, gittens
paranoia, simcox
schizophrenia moyle
medical evidence will be needed in support of the d (sutcliffe)
the burden of proof (1st paragraph)
is on the d to prove they satisfy the defence requirements
2nd requirement,medical conditions- alcohol
alcohol dependence syndrome would also qualify (r v woods)
third requirement- substantially impaired
must be proven that d’s ability to meet 1 or more of the subsections set out in 1(A) of s52 CJA 2009 was substantially impaired
what does substantially impaired mean
does not mean totally impaired, but more than trivial (lloyd)
what are the three requirements
a) understanding nature of d’s conduct
b) forming a rational judgement
c) exercising self control
finally the abnormality must…
provide an explanation for the d killing v
must be casual connection between d’s abnormality of mental functioning (must be a significant contributory factor but need not be the only reason for doing so, golds) & the killing
only include if intoxication present (after establishing medical conditions)
however this is different when d suffers from medically recognised condition and kills while intoxicated
judge should direct jury to ignore intox effects
& to consider whether the medical condition alone would amount to abnormality of mental functioning
r v dietchsmann
