Homicide Law Flashcards
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Homicide definition
s158
Section 158 homicide is the killing of a human being by another directly or indirectly by any means whatsoever
Killing of a child section 159
(1) A child becomes a human being when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the body of it’s mother whether it has breathes or or not has an independent circulation or not and whether the naval string is severed or not
(2) The killing of a child is homicide if it dies of injuries received before during or after birth
Section 160 culpable homicide
(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 willfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person
Allegations of culpable homicide have been supported where the offender has caused death by
- Committing arson
- giving a child excessive alcohol to drink
- placing hot cinders and straw on a person to frighten them
- supplying heroin to a person who dies from an overdose
- throwing concrete from a motorway overbridge into the path of an approaching vehicle
- conducting an illegal abortion where the mother dies
Legal duties
- provide the necessaries and protect from injury s151
- provide the necessaries and protect from injury to your charges when you are a parent or guardian s152
- provide necessaries as an employer s153
- use reasonable knowledge and skill when performing dangerous acts s155
- take precautions when in charge of dangerous things s156
- avoid omissions that will endanger life s157
Consent to death
No one has the right to consent to being killed
The fact that gave their consent not affect the criminal responsibility of anyone else involved
Killing by influence on the mind
No one is criminally responsible except by wilfully frightening a child under 16 or a sick person
Justified
Exempt from both criminal and Civil liability
Eg: homicide in self defence
Section 162 time in which a death must occur
Death must be within a year and a day from the time the last unlawful act or omission took place
Punishment of murder
Life imprisonment
Punishment of attempted murder
14 years imprisonment
Difference between counselling and conspiracy
Counselling involves procuring another person to murder any other person
Conspiracy involves agreeing with any person to murder any other person
Punishment for accessory after the fact to murder
7 years imprisonment
Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
Mitigating circumstances such as a suicide pact reduce what would be murder to manslaughter even though there may have been intense
Involuntary manslaughter covers killings which are caused by an unlawful act or gross negligence where there has been no intention to kill
Manslaughter buy an unlawful act
- The defendant must intentionally do an act
- The act must be unlawful
- The act must be dangerous
- The act must cause death
Gross negligence ( level of Proof)
For a conviction of manslaughter the prosecution must prove a very high degree of negligence or gross negligence
Punishment for manslaughter
Life imprisonment
For infanticide who decides on the mothers State of Mind
The jury
Abandoning a child (liability)
s154
Everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who unlawfully abandons or exposes any child under the age of 6 years
Liability in a preventable death
Liability depends on the men’s Rea not on the victims subsequent actions
Novus actus interveniens
An intervening act that breaks the chain of causation
When treatment of an injury is fatal (who is liable)
The person who caused the injury is liable for the injury and it’s consequences
The person who caused the injury is liable for the death as the result of improper treatment so long as the treatment was applied and good faith
Section 180 suicide pact
Everyone who in pursuance of a suicide pact kills any other person is guilty of manslaughter
Where two or more persons enter into a suicide pact and one or more kills himself any Survivor is guilty of being a party to the death
Section 179 aiding and abetting suicide
Inciting, counselling, procuring, aiding or abetting a person to commit suicide is an offence punishable buy up to 14 years imprisonment
Requirement to do something in one of the specified ways
Section 181 concealing dead body of child
Anyone 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 is liable for up to 2 years imprisonment
A hearsay statement is admissible in any proceeding if
s18 evidence ACT 2006
(a) the circumstances relating to the statement provide reasonable assurance that the statement is reliable: and
(b) either
(i) the maker of the statement is unavailable as a witness or
(ii) the judge considers that undue expense or delay would be caused if the maker of the statement were required to be a witness
Examples of culpable homicide caused by actions prompted by threats fair or deception
Jumps or falls out of a window and dies
jumps into a river to escape and drowns
Has been assaulted and believes their life is in danger jumps from a train and is killed
The meaning of wilfully frightening
Is regarded as intending to frighten or at least be Reckless as to this
Proof of death for murder
Must prove:
death occurred
the deceased is the person who has been killed
the killing is culpable
Definition culpable homicide
Is the blameworthy killing of a person by another
The three main types murder manslaughter and infanticide
Definition unlawful act
A breach of any act, regulation, rule or bylaw
s178(1) infanticide
A woman causes the death of a child under 10 years old in a manner that amount to culpable homicide and at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of not having fully recovered from childbirth, the effects of lactation or any disorder consequent upon childbirth
s167 Murder
Homicide is murder if the offender:
(a) means to cause the death of the person killed
(b) means to cause the person injury known to be likely to cause death and is Reckless whether death ensues or not
(c) means to cause death or being Reckless means to cause injury to one person and by accident or mistake kills another person they did not mean to hurt
(d) for any unlawful object does an act known to be likely to cause death, kills any person
Hearsay statements
s16(1) reliability of statements
- Nature of the statement
- Contents of the statement
- Circumstances relating to the making of the statement
- Circumstances relating to the veracity of the person making the statement
- Circumstances relating to the accuracy of the observation of the person
