Homicide

Question 1

Define - Homicide (s158 CA61)

Answer 1

158 Homicide defined

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

Question 2

Killing of a child (s159 CA61)

Answer 2

159 Killing of a child
(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 3

Culpable homicide (s160 CA61)

Answer 3

160 Culpable homicide
(1) Homicide may be either culpable or not culpable.

(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 or her death; or
(e) by wilfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person.

(3) Except as provided in section 178, culpable homicide is either murder or manslaughter.
(4) Homicide that is not culpable is not an offence.

Question 4

Death must be with in a year and a day

Answer 4

No one is criminally responsible for the killing of another unless the death takes place within a year and a day after the cause of death.

Question 5

Killing by an influence of the mind (s163 CA61)

Answer 5

No one is criminally responsible for the killing of another by any influence on the mind alone, except by wilfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person, nor for the killing of another by any disorder or disease arising from such influence, except by wilfully frightening any such child as aforesaid or a sick person.

Question 6

Acceleration of death

Answer 6

Every one who by any act or omission causes the death of another person kills that person, although the effect of the bodily injury caused to that person was merely to hasten his or her death while labouring under some disorder or disease arising from some other cause.

Question 7

Causing death that might have been prevented

Answer 7

165 Causing death that might have been prevented
Every one who by any act or omission causes the death of another person kills that person, although death from that cause might have been prevented by resorting to proper means.

Question 8

166 Causing injury the treatment of which causes death

Answer 8

166 Causing injury the treatment of which causes death
Every one who causes to another person any bodily injury, in itself of a dangerous nature, from which death results, kills that person, although the immediate cause of death be treatment, proper or improper, applied in good faith.

Question 9

Define - Murder (s167 CA61)

Answer 9

167 Murder defined
Culpable homicide is murder in each of the following cases:
(a) if the offender means to cause the death of the person killed:
(b) if the offender means to cause to the person killed any bodily injury that is known to the offender to be likely to cause death, and is reckless whether death ensues or not:
(c) if the offender means to cause death, or, being so reckless as aforesaid, means to cause such bodily injury as aforesaid to one person, and by accident or mistake kills another person, though he or she does not mean to hurt the person killed:
(d) if the offender for any unlawful object does an act that he or she knows to be likely to cause death, and thereby kills any person, though he or she may have desired that his or her object should be effected without hurting any one.

Question 10

Penalty:

• Murder
• Attempted Murder
• Manslaugther

Answer 10

- Murder
Mandatory life (exceptions exist)
- Attempted Murder
14 yrs
- Manslaugther
Life

Question 11

Counselling or attempting to procure murder (s174 CA61)

Answer 11

Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years who incites, counsels, or attempts to procure any person to murder any other person in New Zealand, when that murder is not in fact committed.

Question 12

Conspiracy to murder (s175 CA61)

Answer 12

175 Conspiracy to murder
(1) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years who conspires or agrees with any person to murder any other person, whether the murder is to take place in New Zealand or elsewhere.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the expression to murder includes to cause the death of another person out of New Zealand in circumstances that would amount to murder if the act were committed in New Zealand.

Question 13

Define - Infanticide

Answer 13

178(1) CA61
Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed, by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to that or any other child, or by reason of the effect of lactation, or by reason of any disorder consequent upon childbirth or lactation, to such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible, she is guilty of infanticide, and not of murder or manslaughter, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.

Question 14

Aiding and abetting suicide

Answer 14

179 Aiding and abetting suicide

(1) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who—
(a) incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or
(b) aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.

(2) A person commits an offence who incites, counsels, or procures another person to commit suicide, even if that other person does not commit or attempt to commit suicide in consequence of that conduct.
(3) A person who commits an offence against subsection (2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.

Question 15

Suicide Pact

Answer 15

180 Suicide pact
(1) Every one who in pursuance of a suicide pact kills any other person is guilty of manslaughter and not of murder, and is liable accordingly.

(2) Where 2 or more persons enter into a suicide pact, and in pursuance of it 1 or more of them kills himself or herself, any survivor is guilty of being a party to a death under a suicide pact contrary to this subsection and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; but he or she shall not be convicted of an offence against section 179.
(3) For the purposes of this section the term suicide pact means a common agreement between 2 or more persons having for its object the death of all of them, whether or not each is to take his or her own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him or her in pursuance of the pact unless it is done while he or she has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact.
(4) It shall be for the person charged to prove that by virtue of subsection (1) he or she is not liable to be convicted of murder, or that by virtue of subsection (2) he or she is not liable to be convicted of an offence against section 179.
(5) The fact that by virtue of this section any person who in pursuance of a suicide pact has killed another person has not been or is not liable to be convicted of murder shall not affect the question whether the homicide amounted to murder in the case of a third person who is a party to the homicide and is not a party to the suicide pact.

Question 16

Concealing dead body of a child

Answer 16

181 Concealing dead body of child
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years who disposes of the dead body of any child in any manner with intent to conceal the fact of its birth, whether the child died before, or during, or after birth.

Question 17

Murray Wright Ltd

Answer 17

Murray Wright Ltd
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 18

R v Tomar - Homicide by threats or fear of violence, or by deception (s160(d) CA61)

Answer 18

R v Tomars
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 19

R v Myatt - Homicide by unlawful act (s160(2)(a) CA61)

Answer 19

R v Myatt
[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 20

R v Horry - when a body is not located

Answer 20

R v Horry
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 21

R v Murphy - Intent must be established

Answer 21

R v Murphy
When proving an attempt to commit an offence it must be shown that the accused’s intention was to commit the substantive offence. For example, in a case of attempted murder it is necessary for the Crown to establish an actual intent to kill:

Question 22

R v Mane - Accessory after the fact to murder

Answer 22

R v Mane
For a person to be an accessory the offence must be complete at the time of the criminal involvement. One cannot be convicted of being an accessory after the fact
of murder when the actus reus of the alleged criminal conduct was wholly completed before the offence of homicide was completed.

Question 23

R v Blaue

Answer 23

R v Blaue

Those who use violence must take their victims as they find them.