Murder/manslaughter Flashcards
What did Lord Coke say about what murder is?
‘murder is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being under the King’s peace with malice aforethought, express or implied’
What does ‘Reasonable creature in being’ mean in lord cokes definition of murder?
A human being: does not include a foetus
What does ‘kings peace’ mean in lord cokes definition of murder?
Committing the crime in the kings kingdom
What is unlawful murder?
• Self-defence
• Defence of another
• Prevention of a crime
What is the Mens rea or murder?
There was direct intention to kill
What is indirect intent?
The D may of not wanted the outcome the chances of it occurring was high
Is loss of control a valid defence?
There must be a qualifying/legit trigger
What is considered a qualifying trigger?
Fear of violence
• Against D or another
• Anger from things said or done
What is the Degree of control?
Only the D’s age and sex is taken into account when deciding if another ‘normal person’ would have had the same level of self-control
What is Diminished responsibility?
• D must be suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning
• It must arise from a recognised medical condition
• It must have substantially impaired D’s ability to either: (1) understand the nature of their actions; (2) exercise self-control
• It must provide an explanation for what D did
What are some Recognised medical condition cases?
• R v Byrne – sexual psychopath
• R v Gittens – depression
What does Substantially impaired mean?
D’s ability to:
• understand the nature of his conduct
• form a rational judgment
Is intoxication a defence?
Voluntary intoxication is not a defence
What is gross negligence manslaughter?
● D owes V a duty of care
● D breaches their duty
Has can the duty be breached?
there was an obvious risk of death when D acted negligently
