Murder Flashcards
What is the mandatory sentence for murder under the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965?
Mandatory life sentence
What are the elements of murder?
- Unlawful
- Killing
- Of a human being
- Under the King’s Peace
- With intention to kill or cause GBH
Under what conditions can killing be considered lawful?
- Killing enemy soldiers in battle
- Advancement of justice (e.g. administering the death penalty)
- Self-Defence
These are exceptions where killing does not constitute murder.
What is required to show ‘killing’ as part of the AR?
Causation must be established as it is a result crime:
- Factual causation - but for test (R v White)
- Legal causation - D’s actions were the substantial cuase of the prohibited harm (R v Hughes)
What constitutes a human being in the context of murder?
A reasonable person in being
- Cannot murder a corpse
- At the moment at which the brain dies, the person will be held to have died
- A child must be fully expelled from the mother’s body and born alive
What is the MR for murder?
Malice aforethought which means:
- intention to kill
- intention to cuase GBH
Intention can be shown by direct or oblique intent
Is mercy killing a valid defense in English law?
No, mercy killing is no defence in English law
What should intention generally be left to?
The common sense of the jury
What is Direct Intent?
What the defendant, subjectively, aims to happen
What is Oblique Intent?
Only where juries are sure that death or grievous bodily harm was a virtual certainty as a result of the defendant’s action
What is the effect of intoxication on mens rea?
Intoxication can negate the mens rea required for murder.
What must the prosecution prove in a murder case?
The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant committed both the actus reus and the mens rea of murder.
What happens if a defendant did not form the mens rea due to intoxication?
If the defendant did not form the mens rea of murder due to intoxication, they will be entitled to acquittal.
