Fatal Offences Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the definition of murder?

A

The unlawful killing of a reasonable person under the King’s peace with malice aforethought express or implied.

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2
Q

What are the requirements of actus reus of murder?

A
  1. Defendant killed - positive act or omission R v Miller
  2. Killing was unlawful means there’s no defence
  3. Killing of human being - not a foetus AG Ref v Malcherek
  4. Killing took place under the King’s peace- can’t be killing of an enemy in the course of war R v Blackman
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3
Q

What is the factual causation for murder?

A

But for test - but for D’s actions V would still be alive R v Pagett

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4
Q

What is the Legal causation for murder?

A

The D must be more than a minimal cause R v Smith
New intervening act which breaks chain of causation
1. Medical intervention R v Cheshire/Jordan/Deer
2. V’s own actions R v Roberts/ Williams
Thin skull rule- must take V as they find them R v Blaue

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5
Q

What is the mens rea for murder?

A

Express- intention to kill
Implied- intention to cause GBH R v Vickers

Direct intent- D intends specific consequence to occur R v Mohan
Indirect intent- Was death or serious injury a virtual certainty and did D appreciate that such was the case R v Woolin

Transferred Malice- Mr transferred from intended V to unintended V R v Latimer If Mr for different crime malice not transferred

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6
Q

What is Voluntary Manslaughter and what are the two types?

A

Partial defence to murder and to be charged with it D must have committed the actus reus and mens rea for murder and there must be a causal link between the D’s acts and the death.
Diminished Responsibility and Loss of control

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7
Q

What act sets out the defence of diminished responsibility

A

s52 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009

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7
Q

What must the D demonstrate for a defence in DR?

A
  1. Must be an abnormality of mental functioning- a state of mind so different from that of the ordinary human being being that the reasonable man would term it abnormal R v Byrne
  2. D must be suffering from a recognised medical condition e.g depression R v Gittens
  3. That substantially impairs D’s ability to do one of three things: R v Lloyd
    Understand nature of their conduct
    Form a rational judgement
    Exercise self control
  4. Provides an explanation for D’s acts or omissions
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8
Q

What is the situation of a recognised medical condition and intoxication?

A

Intoxication alone cannot support a defence of DR as not considered abnormality of mental functioning but where it has caused brain damage the brain damage/ injury can be a RMC.

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9
Q

What Act sets out the defence of loss of control?

A

s54 Coroners and Justice 2009

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10
Q

What is the first stage of the 3 part test for loss of control?

A
  1. D must lose control (1) (b) i)when D lost the ability to maintain their action in accordance with considered judgement
    ii) That the D lost their normal powers of reasoning
    iii) That the D’s behaviour was very out of character and normally they wouldn’t have acted in this way.
    D must have really lost it or snapped- R v Jewell
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11
Q

What is the second stage of the 3 part test for loss of control?

A

Because of a qualifying trigger
S55(3) CJA - Fear trigger- Ds fear of serious violence from the V, whether or not that fear was reasonable R v Ward
S55(4) CJA- Anger trigger- Something V did or said that constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character and caused D to have justified sense of being wronged R v Bowyer

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12
Q

What is the final stage of the 3 part test for loss of control?

A

s54(1) (c) - A person of the same sex and age with a normal degree of tolerance might have reacted in the same way R v Camplin

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13
Q

What is involuntary manslaughter and what are the two types?

A

Occurs when D lacks mens rea for murder. They had no intention to kill and may not have intention to harm the victim.
Unlawful Act Manslaughter and Gross negligence manslaughter

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14
Q

What is the definition of unlawful manslaughter ?

A

Liability built up from a lesser crime e.g if someone intended to commit an armed robbery and killed someone

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15
Q

What two things must you prove first for unlawful act manslaughter?

A
  1. Positive Act-must not be an omission R v Lowe
  2. Unlawful Act -must be a crime not a civil wrong R v Franklin
    Unlawful act does not need to be directed at the victim R v Mitchell
    Unlawful act does not need to be directed at the person R v Goodfellow
    All of the elements of the unlawful act manslaughter must be present in order for the for D tob guilty R v Lamb
16
Q

What is the 3rd thing to prove for unlawful act manslaughter?

A

3)Unlawful Act should be dangerous - reasonable person would recognise that the act of D would cause the other person some harm but the D does not need to foresee exact type of harm R v Church
There must be a risk of physical harm not emotional upset R v JM and SM

17
Q

What are the final 2 requirements of unlawful act manslaughter?

A

4)Causing the death of the victim. Courts apply factual and legal causation. Rv Kennedy(Vs own actions) and R v Cato
5)The positive act be done with the necessary mens rea don’t need to realise act was unlawful DPP v Newbury

18
Q

What is the definition for Gross Negligence manslaughter?

A

Negligence means acting carelessly but actions must be so bad they are considered criminal

19
Q

What is the case that sets out the essential elements for Gross negligence?

A

Adomako

20
Q

What is the first requirement for Gross Negligence Manslaughter?

A

Duty of care need to be established e.g Parent and child, teacher and student, employer for employee and motorist and other road users
R v Singh R v Wacker R v Stone & Dobinson

21
Q

What is the second, third, fourth and fifth requirement of Gross Negligence

A

2) Breach of duty objective test- reasonable person Blyth v Birmingham waterworks
3) At time of breach there was a serious and obvious risk of death
4) Reasonably foreseeable at the time of the breach of duty that the breach gave rise to a serious and obvious risk of death R v Broughton
5) Causing the death- causation applied

22
Q

What is the final requirement for Gross negligence ?

A

The breach must be gross- was negligence so bad in all circumstances as to amount to a criminal act or omission in eyes of jury R v Bateman
Breach so bad it risked death R v Misra and Srivstava