Murder And Manslaughter Offences

Question 1

Murder defined:

Answer 1

167 Murder defined
Culpable homicide is murder in each of the following cases:
(a) If the offender means to cause the death of the person killed:
(B) If the offender means to cause to the person killed any bodily injury that is known to the offender to be likely to cause death, and is reckless whether death ensues or not:
(C) If the offender means to cause death, or, being so reckless as aforesaid, means to cause such bodily injury as aforesaid to one person, and by accident or mistake kills another person, though he does not mean to hurt the person killed:
(D)If the offender for any unlawful object does an act that he knows to be likely to cause death, and thereby kills any person, though he may have desired that his object should be effected without hurting any one.

Question 2

Criminal intent

Answer 2

In a criminal law context there are two specific types of intention in an offence. Firstly there must be an intention to commit the act and secondly, an intention to get a specific result.

Question 3

Key points to prove murder

Answer 3

• intended to cause death, or
• knew that death was likely to ensue, or
• was reckless that death would ensue.

If such intent is not present the offence is manslaughter unless it falls within the provisions of infanticide (section 178).

Question 4

R v Piri

Answer 4

R v Piri [1987] 1 NZLR 66
Recklessness [here] involves a conscious, deliberate risk taking. The degree of risk of death foreseen by the accused under either s167(b) or (d) must be more than negligible or remote. The accused must recognise a “real or substantial risk” that death would be caused:

Question 5

R v Desmond

Killing in pursuit of an unlawful object

Answer 5

Not only must the object be unlawful, but also the accused must know that his act is likely to cause death. It must be shown that his knowledge accompanied the act causing death.

Question 6

Punishment for murder

Answer 6

172 Punishment of murder

(1) Every one who commits murder is liable to imprisonment for life.
(2) Subsection (1) is subject to section 102 of the Sentencing Act 2002.

Section 102 of the Sentencing Act 2002 states:
102 Presumption in favour of life imprisonment for murder
(1) An offender who is convicted of murder must be sentenced to imprisonment for life unless, given the circumstances of the offence and the offender, a sentence of imprisonment for life would be manifestly unjust.
(2) If a court does not impose a sentence of imprisonment for life on an offender convicted of murder, it must give written reasons for not doing so.

Question 7

R v Murphy

Intent in attempts matters

Answer 7

When proving an attempt to commit an offence it must be shown that the accused’s intention was to commit the substantive offence. For example, in a case of attempted murder it is necessary for the Crown to establish an actual intent to kill:

Question 8

R v Harpur

Answer 8

[The Court may] have regard to the conduct viewed cumulatively up to the point
when the conduct in question stops … the defendant’s conduct [may] be considered in its entirety. Considering how much remains to be done … is always relevant, though not determinative.

Question 9

R v Mane

AATF

Answer 9

For a person to be an accessory the offence must be complete at the time of the criminal involvement. One cannot be convicted of being an accessory after the fact of murder when the actus reus of the alleged criminal conduct was wholly completed before the offence of homicide was completed.

Question 10

Voluntary manslaughter

Answer 10

Mitigating circumstances, such as a suicide pact, reduce what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter, even though the defendant may have intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

Question 11

Involuntary manslaughter

Answer 11

Covers those types of unlawful killing in which the death is caused by an unlawful act or gross negligence. In such cases there has been no intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm

Question 12

Killing in a sudden fight

Answer 12

Killing in a sudden fight: Consider self defence, if this self defence was justified then the verdict should be acquittal. If the fact there was a fight negates that the defendant had the required mens rea to bring a charge of murder within section 167, the proper verdict is manslaughter.

Question 13

Unlawful act for manslaughter:

Answer 13

Unlawful act for manslaughter:
The defendant must intentionally do an act
The act must be unlawful
The act must be dangerous
The act must cause death

Question 14

Manslaughter penalty

Answer 14

Punishment: Liable to imprisonment for life (anything from a fine to life)

Question 15

Manslaughter by negligence

Answer 15

Diverse range of circumstances; e.g: In charge of train, factory machinery, car, ship, weapon or while administering medical or surgical treatment.
Must prove a very high degree of negligence or gross negligence ( The ‘Major departure’ test)
Objective test: To assess whether defendant has been negligent and whether the negligence has been a major departure is an objective test (Whether having regard to the risk of death involved, the conduct of the defendant was so bad in all the circumstances as to amount to a criminal act or omission.