murder Flashcards
what is lord Coke’s definition of murder?
the unlawful killing of a reasonable creature under the queens peace with malice afterthought
what type of offence is murder?
murder is one of the most serious crimes that would be tried as an indictable offense with a mandatory life sentence.
what is the actus reus of murder?
the actus reus of murder is the “unlawful killing of a reasonable person under the queens peace” this means that the guilty act of murder is the unlaful killing of this being. unlawful refers to the illegal killing and reasonable person refers to a being that is independent of the mother meaning outside the wob.
what are examples of lawful killings?
A lawful killing is a killing that doctors, police, and the army would use for example RE A is the case of conjoined twins when doctors went to the courts to ask for the lawful killing of one twin.
what is an example of an unlawful killing ?
an example of unlawful killing would be R V MARTIN where a framer shot 2 burglars who attempted to break into his farmhouse
what is the mens rea of murder?
the mens rea of murder is malice afterthought wither intention to kill expressed malice or intention to cause serious harm implied malice.
example cases that demonstrate the mens rea of murder?
R V Vickers established that intention to cause GBH is sufficient for murder. r v woolin show that murder extends to oblique intent
further explain the actus reus of murder
the actus reus of killing can be by act or omission but it must cause the death of the victim, and omission could be where the defendant failed to act under their legal duty eg R V GIBBINS AND PROCTOR
WHAT case refers to a filure to act that resulted in the death of the victim ?
R V GIBBINS AND PROCTOR
does legal causation and factual causation need to be proved for murder ?
YES
HAT CASE REFRES TO POOR MEDICAL TREATMENT THAT resulted in death
- R V JORDAN AND R V SMITH
what are the three principles of actus reus
unlawful killing- can be by act or omission where dD failed to act R V GIBBINS AND PROCTOR/ poor medical treatment EG R V JORDAN
human being - REFERS TO the independence of mother outside of the womb - attorney generals reference
Queens peace - this refres to the killing of an enemy during war time this does not amount to murder
EXAPLIN human being as apart of the actus reus of murder
human being refers to outside the mothers womb an independent existence to that of the mother this was confirmed in ATTORNEY GENERALS RFERENCE NO3 OF 1994
brain dead also refers to a creature in being which does not break the chain of causation which means D will still be found guilty of murder as in R V MALCHEREK AND R V STEEL
what case confirmed that a foetus is outside the mothers womb
ATTORNEY GENRALS REFERENCE NO3 OF 1994 - foetus is not a creature of being
WHAT CASES confirm that Defendant will be criminally liable for murder if the life machine is turned of
R V MALCHEREK AND R V STEEL
further explain the Mens rea of murder
MR - malice afterthought , the intention to kill express malice or the intention to cause serious harm implied malice
which does not require pre mediation eg in R V VICKERS where d broke into shop and punched old lady she died of her injuries which was further explained in r v cunningham
which case confirmed the mens rea of murder as not requiring pre meditation
r v vickers which was confirmed in R V CUNNIGHAM
what are the two types of intention ?
DIRECT INTENT - this is when defendant intends to achieve their act and sets out to achieve it MOHAN
INDIRECT INTENT - (oblique intent) where the defendant did not desire a particular result but the results could be foreseen EG R V HYAM
which cases illustrate direct intent and oblique intent?
Direct intent- R v MOHAN - d forsaw the consequences , she knew it was likely to happen -
what test did r v hyram lead to ?
Maloney lead to two part test formulated by lord bridge because Hyram was stated to be bad law and just because the consequences were forseen does not mean they intended it
1) was the death or serious injury a natural consequence of the defendants act
2) did the defendant foresee that
what test did maloney lead to ?
from Hancock and Maloney the virtual certainty test was created
1) how probable was the consequence which resulted from the defendants voluntary act
2) did the defendant foresee the consequence as virtually certain
the virtual certainty test is evidence that the defendant has inention
what did R V WOOLIN STATE ?
r v woolin refferd to substantial risk and reinforced the idea that Nedrick virtual certainty test is more effective in murder cases
what does transfered malice mean ?
transfered malice refers to the transfered mens rea where d intends to kill or cause serious injury to victim but accidently kills victim number two which can result in d being guilty of murder eg in latimer
what case illistrates transfered malice ?
LATIMER
