Short Answer 61-68

Question 1

61. Define Alibi;

Answer 1

“An alibi is the plea in a criminal charge of having been elsewhere at the material time: the fact of being elsewhere” (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary).

Question 2

62. Section 178, Infanticide

Answer 2

(1) Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed, by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to that or any other child, or by reason of the effect of lactation, or by reason of any disorder consequent upon childbirth or lactation, to such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible, she is guilty of infanticide, and not of murder or manslaughter, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years

Question 3

63. A Hearsay statement is admissible in any proceeding if -

Answer 3

Section 18 General admissibility of hearsay (Evidence Act 2006) (1) A hearsay statement is admissible in any proceeding if –

(a) The circumstances relating to the statement provide reasonable assurance that the statement is reliable; and
(b) Either, (i) The maker of the statement is unavailable as a witness; or (ii) The judge considers that undue expense or delay would be caused if the make of the statement were required as a witness

Question 4

64. Voluntary Manslaughter

Answer 4

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 5

65. Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 5

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. Manslaughter, then, includes culpable homicide that:

• Does not come within s167 or s168;
• Comes within ss167 and 168, but is reduced to manslaughter because the killing was a part of a suicide pact as defined in s180(3) of the Crimes Act 1961 (refer page 44).

The key difference between manslaughter and murder depends on the mental element that must be establish to support the charge.

Question 6

66. Degree of force under Self Defence

Answer 6

The degree of force permitted is tested initially under the following subjective criteria:

• What are the circumstances that the defendant genuinely believes exist (whether or not it is a mistaken belief)?
• Do you accept that the defendant genuinely believes those facts?
• Is the force used reasonable in the circumstances believed to exist?

Question 7

67. Required state of mind for Section 167(b) Crimes Act 1961;

Answer 7

To show that the defendant’s state of mind meets the provisions of section 167(b), you must establish that the defendant; o Intended to cause bodily injury to the deceased o Knew the injury was likely to cause death o Was reckless as to whether death ensued or not

Question 8

68. Define the offence of Murder (S167)

Answer 8

Section 167, Crimes Act 1961

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 9

Further define the offence of murder (S168)

Answer 9

Section 168, Crimes Act 1961

Further definition of murder

(1) Culpable homicide is also murder in each of the following cases, whether the offender means or does not mean death to ensue, or knows or does not know that death is likely to ensue:
(a) If he means to cause grievous bodily injury for the purpose of facilitating the commission of any of the offences mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, or facilitating the flight or avoiding the detection of the offender upon the commission or attempted commission thereof, or for the purpose of resisting lawful apprehension in respect of any offence whatsoever, and death ensues from such injury:
(b) If he administers any stupefying or overpowering thing for any of the purposes aforesaid, and death ensues from the effects thereof:
(c) If he by any means wilfully stops the breath of any person for any of the purposes aforesaid, and death ensues from such stopping of breath.