Homicide Flashcards

1
Q

Define Homicide - Section 158 Crimes Act 1961

A

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

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2
Q

When does a child become human - Section 159 Crimes Act 1961

A

(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.

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3
Q

Definition of culpable homicide - Section 160 Crimes Act 1961

A

(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 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

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4
Q

Death must be within one year and one day - Section 162 CA 61

A

(1) 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.
(2) The period of a year and a day shall be reckoned inclusive of the day on which the last unlawful act contributing to the cause of death took place.
(3) Where the cause of death is an omission to fulfil a legal duty, the period shall be reckoned inclusive of the day on which such omission ceased.
(4) Where death is in part caused by an unlawful act and in part by an omission, the period shall be reckoned inclusive of the day on which the last unlawful act took place or the omission ceased, whichever happened last

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5
Q

Killing by influence of the mind - Section 163 CA 61

A

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.

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6
Q

Acceleration of death - Section 164 CA 61

A

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.

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7
Q

Murder defined - Section 167 CA 61

A

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 does not mean to hurt the person killed:
(d) If the offender for any unlawful object does an act that he knows to be likely to cause death, and thereby kills any person, though he may have desired that his object should be effected without hurting any one.

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8
Q

Further definition of murder - Section 168 CA 61

A

(1) Culpable homicide is also murder in each of the following cases, whether the offender means or does not mean death to ensue, or knows or does not know that death is likely to ensue:
(a) if he or she means to cause grievous bodily injury for the purpose of facilitating the commission of any of the offences mentioned in subsection (2), or facilitating the flight or avoiding the detection of the offender upon the commission or attempted commission thereof, or for the purpose of resisting lawful apprehension in respect of any offence whatsoever, and death ensues from such injury:
(b) if he or she administers any stupefying or overpowering thing for any of the purposes aforesaid, and death ensues from the effects thereof:
(c) if he or she by any means wilfully stops the breath of any person for any of the purposes aforesaid, and death ensues from such stopping of breath.

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9
Q

Manslaughter - Section 171 CA 61

A

Except as provided in section 178, culpable homicide not amounting to murder is manslaughter.

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10
Q

Infanticide - Section 178 CA 61

A

1) 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.

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11
Q

Suicide pact liability - Section 180 (1)

A

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

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12
Q

Survivor of suicide pact - Section 180(2) CA 61

A

(2) Where 2 or more persons enter into a suicide pact, and in pursuance of it one or more of them kills himself, 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 shall not be convicted of an offence against section 179 of this Act.

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13
Q

Suicide pact defined - Section 180(3)

A

(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 own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him in pursuance of the pact unless it is done while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact.

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14
Q

Concealing body of a child - Section 181 CA 61

A

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.

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15
Q

Define voluntary manslaughter

A

Mitigating circumstances, such as a suicide pact, reduce what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter, even though the defendant may have intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

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16
Q

Define involuntary manslaughter

A

Covers those types of unlawful killing in which death is caused by criminal negligence. In such cases there has been no intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

17
Q

What was held in Murray Wright Ltd

A

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

18
Q

What was held in R v TOMARS

A

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?
19
Q

What was held in R v MYATT

A

[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.

20
Q

What was held in R v HORRY

A

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.

21
Q

What was held in R v MURPHY

A

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.

22
Q

What was held in R v MANE - accessory after fact

A

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.

23
Q

What was held in R v BLAUE

A

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

24
Q

What was held in R v COTTLE regarding automatism

A

Doing something without knowledge of it and without memory afterwards of having done it -a temporary eclipse of consciousness that nevertheless leaves the person so affected able to exercise bodily movements.

25
Q

What was held in R v COTTLE regarding burden of proof

A

As to degree of proof, it is sufficient if the plea is established to the satisfaction of the jury on a preponderance of probabilities without necessarily excluding all reasonable doubt