how to get away with murder Flashcards
1
Q
definition of murder
A
- ‘D unlawfully kills another person under the Queen’s peace and does so intending to kill or cause GBH
2
Q
rules
A
- In each scenario, causation, specific AR and MR have been established
- The task Is to establish which defence would be easiest to use to get away with murder
- Getting away with concerns ease of accessibility, amount of use and chance
3
Q
minimum prison term
A
- For an adult the starting point for time within prison ranges from 15-30 years
- For those 18 and under, the starting point is 12 years
- For whole life sentences (of which there are 68) these depend on premeditation/sadism and these people will never leave
4
Q
tariffs
A
- There are three starting points for offenders over 21
1. Whole life order
2. 30 years
3. 25 years
4. 15 years
5
Q
Aggravating factors
A
- Planning or premeditation
- Vulnerable victim due to age or disability
- Mental or physical suffering to the V
- Abuse of a prison of trust
- Public service or duty
- Concealing, destroying of dismembering the body
6
Q
Mitigating factors
A
- An intent to cause bodily harm rather than death
- Lack of premeditation
- D suffers from mental disorder which lowered his degree of blame
- Provoked
- Fear of violence or self defence
- An act of mercy
- Age of D
7
Q
Sentencing guidelines
A
- Due to the seriousness of the offence, the approach and ability to sentence for murder is defined in the law
- Following the plea of guilty or the D being found guilty, the judge may wish to take advantage of pre-sentencing reports such as medical or psychiatric reports to inform the sentence
8
Q
CPS guidelines
A
- Impact of the crime; family and friend statements, the judge will use these to assess the impact of the crime
- A life sentence always last for life, regardless of the tariff; D will only be released if they are no longer a risk to the public
- They are then subject to conditions on license
9
Q
Parole board
A
- Make decision about the early release of certain prisoners and anyone sentence to life imprisonment
- They act as a court but do not hold public hearings and they have their own guidelines
10
Q
Self defence
AKA public and private defence
A
- The defence will not apply to an offence committed without force or in circs of prior fault
- D must have believe that force was immediately required in order to protect their interests
- The amount of force used but have been reasonable on the facts as D believed them to be
11
Q
To satisfy
A
- The D must have believed it was necessary to use force in the circs to defend themselves
- The force must be reasonable
12
Q
Things to know:
A
- Was it necessary to use force against the V?
- The question of D’s belief is not whether the force was reasonable but whether it was honest
- We want to know whether they subjectively believed them and did the jury believe that force was necessary
13
Q
What about pre-emptive force
A
- It is acceptable to use force pre-emptively?
- Devlin v Armstrong [1971]: force can be used to ward off an attack, as long as they honestly believed the attack was imminent
- Incredibly narrow- but it is possible
14
Q
reasonable force
A
- The question of this issue is one of the proportionality and even if it did equate to more force than was threatened the defence will be satisfied
- If unreasonable, the defence will fail on all elements
- Was the degree of force used by d objectively reasonable based on the subjective facts as they believed it to be?
- Should be noted, that the question is not one of the harm caused- but of the force used
- If d’s force results in an unreasonable harm, this does not negate the defence
- If unreasonable force, defence will fail
15
Q
effectiveness
A
Ease of use- 7.5/10
Getting away with murder- 8/10
Alternate consequences- no alternate consequence, if it cannot be satisfied- loss of control may be used