involuntary manslaughter Flashcards
what is the actus reus of unlawful act manslaughter?
- d must commit an unlawful act
- the act must cause v’s death
- the act must be dangerous
what is element 1 of unlawful act manslaughter ?
- d must commit an unlawful act
- an omission is not enough
what does r v stone and dobinson say?
a failure will be insufficient for unlawful act manslaughter - there must be an act
what does R v Franklin say?
unlawful act must be a criminal act - a civil wrong is not enough
what does r v lamb say?
the unlawful act must be complete (all elements passed)
what is also part of element 1 of unlawful act manslaughter?
d must have the mens rea for the unlawful act
what is the mens rea for unlawful act manslaughter?
d must have mens rea for the unlawful act
what does dpp v newbury and jones say?
it isn’t necessary to prove that d foresaw the harm from his act; d only needs to have the mens rea of the unlawful act
what does r v mitchell say?
malice can be transferred from one victim to another
what is element 3 of unlawful act manslaughter?
-unlawful act must cause the death
-it must be proved that d’s unlawful act caused v’s death
what are the cases for factual causation?
-r v pagett
-r v white
what are the cases for legal causation?
-r v jordan
-r v smith
what is the thin skull rule and what is the case for it?
-any hidden characteristic that d has that makes the more vulnerable - d should take v as they find them
- r v blaue
what does r v dear say?
self neglect by the victim does not break the chain of causation
what does r v cato say? how does it differ from r v kennedy?
-cato: d injects v with the drug
-kennedy: d breaks the link between them and d by injecting the drug themselves
what is element 3 of unlawful act manslaughter?
-the unlawful act must be dangerous
-the meaning of dangerous in UAM is different to normal meaning
what is the Church test? what does it say?
an act is dangerous if a sober and reasonable person would realise that it carries a risk of some physical harm to another person
who is classed as a reasonable person?
a bystander
what does r v dawson and r v watson say?
emotional harm is not enough, the harm must be physical and foreseeable
what does R v JM and SM say?
there is no need for the sober and reasonable person to foresee the specific harm from which v died, only that d would suffer physical harm in some form
what does R v Goodfellow say?
unlawful act manslaughter can be aimed at property as long as the sober and reasonable person would realise it carried the risk of some physical harm to a person
what does R v Farnon and Ellis say?
d will always be compared to the sober and reasonable person, even if d is not sober nor reasonable
