Homicide Flashcards
what two ways can manslaughter be defined?
voluntary
involuntary
what can be classed as voluntary manslaughter?
loss of control
diminished responsibility
suicide pact
what can be classed as involuntary manslaughter?
gross negligence
reckless
unlawful and dangerous acts
what are statutory homicide offences?
causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable child or adult
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
causing death by driving
Road Traffic Act 1988
causing death by aggravated vehicle taking
AV-T 1992
infanticide/ child destruction
where can early examples of murder recognised as a crime be recognised?
petty treason
murder act 1751
Lord Coke 1600 in ‘Institutes’
where can the basis of provocation be found?
Dorset Hunters case 1570
house owner confronted by hunters in a forrest - killing of the hunters would allow the plea of provocation
what act meant that causing death was no longer automatically murder if it occurred in the course of committing another offence?
S.1 Homicide Act 1957
ex// rape
what offence highlights the contrary to s.1 HA 1957?
defendant commits murder if they inflicted GBH that caused death
what cases showed that GBH causing constitute murder?
R v Vickers 1957 - gbh
R v Cunningham 1982 - broken arm
what are the constructive elements of murder?
AR - causing death
MR - intention to kill or cause GBH
what did Lord Steyn argue that the current MR requirement in murder creates?
(Powell and English 1997)
‘results in defendants being classified as murderers who are not in truth murderers’
how was direct intention for murder described in R v Maloney?
judge should avoid any elaboration or paraphrase of what intention is
leave it to jury’s good sense
UNLESS judge is convinced that further explanation/ elaboration is required and necessary to avoid misunderstanding
what test applies to intention for homicide offences?
Nedrick/Woollin tests
what did the court hold that the jury could consider aswell as the seriousness of the injuries to determine whether serious harm was intended?
where?
characteristics of the victim
R v Bollom
what is the mandatory sentence for murder?
what is the average time spent in prison?
life sentence
15.5 years
what does the law commission constitute First Degree murder?
intention to kill or at least intention to do serious injury
what does the law commission constitute Second Degree murder?
intention to cause some injury or risk of injury
intention to do serious injury
intention to kill with duress/ diminished responsibility/ loss of control
what case found that gross negligence manslaughter was not incompatible with the ECHR?
why was it accused of being incompatible?
R v Misra and Strivastava
Adomako test circular and conflicted with art.6 and art.7
what happened in Adomako?
what question was produced in Adomako (1995) for gross negligence manslaughter?
V died when anaesthetist failed to observe that Vs mouth had become detached from the ventilator
was Ds conduct so bad in all the circumstances as to amount to a criminal act or omission?
why was there no conviction for gross negligence manslaughter in Rose (2017)?
D could not be convicted as it was the performance of the act that they failed to perform which would have given rise to the recognition that they needed to act
optometrist failing to inspect back of victim’s eye which later caused them to die
what did the courts describe the question of duty of care in Evans (2009)?
a question of law for the judge to determine in the given context
what is a key case for Reckless manslaughter?
what happened in the case?
Lidar 1999
D drove off while Vs head was still in the car and rear wheel crushed V killing them
what must the jury be convinced of in order to establish a conviction of reckless manslaughter?
aware of the necessary degree of risk of serious injury to V but nevertheless chose to disregard it, or was indifferent to it
Lidar 1999
what does gross negligence manslaughter require?
what does reckless manslaughter require?
GN requires D to see a possible risk of death that they did not avoid
foresight of possible serious harm or possible death
what is unlawful and dangerous acts manslaughter?
where the committal of another offence leads to the killing of another (not GBH)
what happened in the unlawful/ dangerous act manslaughter case of Mitchell 1982?
minor assault led to a manslaughter conviction
what did the Church (1966) case determine that the unlawful act in U/DA manslaughter must be?
‘such that all sober and reasonable people recognise must subject the other person to, at least, the risk of some harm’
‘albeit not serious harm’
what did the Dawson (1985) case determine the type of harm must be in a U/DA manslaughter conviction?
risk of physical harm
emotional shock alone is insufficient
what happened in the U/DA manslaughter case of Watson 1989?
why was the conviction made?
D threw brick through Vs house window, who was seriously ill and elderly
D entered the house and verbally assaulted V
V later died from the trauma of the burglary
Ds act had constituted to an unlawful act and D had knowledge of Vs state throughout, highlighting the risk
why was the Meeking (2012) case found to be a conviction of U/DA manslaughter?
what would it have otherwise been?
activation of handbrake when car was moving was contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1966
‘obvious to a reasonable person that it would have been dangerous’
gross negligence BUT fell short of requirement to foresee death
why was burglary considered a dangerous act which constituted to U/DA manslaughter in Bristow (2013)?
D aware of the circumstances surrounding the commission of the act
foresight of intervention by V to prevent Ds escape
what was the precedent set in relation to uninsured cars in relation to U/DA manslaughter in R v Williams?
that D does not have to be the factual cause of the death
was not under influence of drugs/alcohol
liable because death had been caused and Ds car was uninsured
what case overrode the precedent in R v Williams - U/DA manslaughter and uninsured cars?
R v Hughes
no longer strict liability
must be legal causation/ a fault element - contribute in more than minimal way to death
BUT does not need to be the principle cause of death
what case established that merely some harm being foreseeable from the commission of an U/DA in order to establish U/DA manslaughter?
R v M (J) and Another 2012
D did not need to foresee that the suffering of a renal artery aneurysm was likely/possible
what are theoretical and moral considerations for the offence of U/DA manslaughter?
‘one punch’ manslaughter often seen as unfair - lack of intention
fact that life was taken overrides the existence of direct intention
outcome of death is the sole reason for increased severity of death despite it not being foreseen
what was the Law Commission proposal in 1996 for the offence of U/DA manslaughter?
that D intended or foresaw the injury to the victim
risk of death or serious injury must be obvious
how did the government respond to the perceived severity of the offence in 2000 U/D A manslaughter?
why could this be problematic?
‘anyone who embarks on the course of illegal violence must accept the consequences, even if the consequences are unforeseeable’
creation of new offences
existence of offences ex// Serious Crime Act 2015 s.79 - projecting any article/substance into a prison
what were the proposed areas of review for Homicide review mentioned by the Law Commission in 2004?
the mess of the current organisation
elements that make up the substantive offence
what the current exclusions are
the sentencing regime
how many respondents in Mitchell and Robinson’s investigation held that sentencing for murder was ‘about right’?
1/5
what did Mitchell and Roberts’ survey find to be the most important reason for sentencing?
35% found that it was punishment (for all offences)
40% for murder specifically
what did Mitchell and Roberts’ scenario questions find?
nature, intention, reasoning and foresight of the act were all important factors of consideration that generated the form of sentencing they would give
