Homicide Flashcards
What is the definition of murder?
Murder is a common law offence and is defined as ‘unlawful killing of a reasonable person who is in being under the King’s peace with malice aforethought’.
What is the actus reus of murder?
-Unlawful
-Killing
-Human being
-under the King’s peace
What is the mens rea for murder?
Malice aforethought.
What does malice aforethought mean?
Intention to kill (express malice) or intention to cause GBH (implied malice).
What type of defence is diminished responsibility?
It is one of the two special defences to murder-it can only be used as a defence to murder, no other offences.
It is a partial defence, meaning if successful, the D is not acquitted but convicted of the lesser offence of voluntary manslaughter.
What is the burden of proof in relation to diminished responsibility?
The burden falls upon the defence to prove on the balance of probabilities that the D was acting under diminished responsibility.
What are the requirements of the defence of diminished responsibility?
The requirements for diminished responsibility are that the D:
-Had an abnormality of mental functioning
-The abnormality was caused by a recognized medical condition
-The abnormality substantially impaired their ability to understand their actions, make rational decisions, or exercise self-control
-The abnormality explains their actions
What constitutes an abnormality of mental functioning for the purposes of diminished responsibility?
R v Byrne (1906): a D would be suffering from an abnormality of the mind if they had a ‘state of mind so different from that of ordinary human beings that the reasonable man would term it abnormal’.
Will voluntary intoxication give rise to a defence of diminished responsibility?
No, as per R v Dowds (2011), voluntary intoxication cannot give rise to a defence of diminished responsibility.
What is the defence of loss of control?
It is a partial defence to murder. If the defence is successful, the conviction is reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter meaning the D will avoid the mandatory life sentence.
What is the burden of proof in relation to loss of control?
The burden of proof rests with the prosecution once the issue is raised, CJA 2009, s54(5).
The prosecution need to prove that only one of the components is absent for the defence to fail: R v Clinton, Parker and Evans (2012).
What are the three requirements for the defence of loss of control?
- Loss of self-control;
- The loss of self-control had a qualifying trigger; and
- Normal person test-a person of D’s sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D, might have reacted in the same or in a similar way to D.
What are the two types of qualifying trigger for the defence of loss of control?
-Fear trigger
-Anger trigger
What are the three parts to the anger trigger?
-things said and/or done
-that constitute circumstances of an extremely grave nature
-that caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged
What are the two steps to the normal person test?
The jury will have to assess:
- The gravity of the qualifying trigger to a person in the D’s circumstances; then
- Whether as a result of that trigger a normal person might have done what the D did or something similar.
Can the defence of loss of control be used in an act of considered desire for revenge?
No, the defence is not applicable in this scenario. This would cover cases where there is clear evidence of planning. If the D is acting out of planned revenge, the D will not have lost self-control.
Can the defence of loss of control be used as an excuse to use violence?
No, the D cannot create the qualifying trigger as an excuse to use violence.
Can the defence of loss of control be used if the thing said/done constituted sexual infidelity?
No, the defence is excluded when sexual infidelity is the sole qualifying trigger.
What is the mens rea for murder if the D is intoxicated?
Even though intoxicated, did D form the mens rea of intention to kill or intention to cause GBH?
A drunken intent is still intent.
Is voluntary intoxication capable of being relied upon to run the defence of diminished responsibility?
No, this is not permissible as per R v Dowds (2012).
What is involuntary manslaughter?
Involuntary manslaughter includes all varieties of unlawful homicide other than murder. It is distinguished from murder by the lack of ‘malice aforethought’.
What are the requirements for unlawful act manslaughter?
- The D intentionally (voluntarily) did an act
- The act was unlawful
- The unlawful act was dangerous
- The unlawful act caused the death of the victim
What is gross negligence manslaughter?
Gross negligence manslaughter occurs when someone’s reckless actions or inactions cause the death of another person.
The basis is that the D has breached a duty of care owed to V, which can be done through a positive act or omission which must be considered so bad that it necessitates a criminal charge.
What are the requirements for gross negligence manslaughter?
- The existence of a duty of care
- Breach of that duty
- That the breach causes death
- That there was a risk of death- there must be an obvious and serious risk not merely of injury or even serious injury, but of death
- That the breach of duty was so bad as to amount to ‘gross negligence’
