Murder Flashcards
A01 for Murder
Common law defence
Most serious criminal offence
Lord Coke : unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being under the kings peace with malice aforethought
Actus Reus
Killing ( causation )
Reasonable creature
Kings peace
Unlawful
Men’s Rea
Intent to kill
Intent to cause GBH
Direct or indirect
Transferred malice possible
Coincidence of MR and AR
What do these explain
Gibbins and Proctor
White
Kimsey
Gibbins and Proctor - killing
Actus reus can be an act or omission, must be the cause
White - factual causation “but for”
Kinsey - legal causation - “more than minimal cause?”
Attorney general reference No.3
Explains what
Reasonable creature in being
Killing of foetus Cabot be considered murder
Foetus/baby must be expelled from mothers body and have independent existence
Malcherek
Explains what
Brain-death
Declaration of brain death by a medical professional
Doctor Turing off life support won’t be liable for murder
However a medical professional who withered off life support not as a medical decision can be liable
R v Blackman explains what
Under the kings peace
Killing of an enemy in the course of war is NOT murder
Killing of a prisoner of war or another person outside of war is murder
Beckford
Explains what
Unlawful / reasonable force
Killing must be unlawful
If in self defence and reasonable force was used the killing isn’t unlawful
Defendant only does what he honestly and instinctively thought was necessary in moment of panic
Cumminugham
Mohan
Woolin
Explains what
Cunningham - malice forethought express or implied
Intent to cause GBH
Mohan - direct intent
Woolin - Indirect intent
Gnango
Church
Explains what
Transferred malice
- intention to kill or cause serious hard can be transferred to one victim from another
Coincidence of AR and MR
If AR part of larger sequence of events which are connected, it is enough for the D to develop MR at Some point
