voluntary Manslaughter-Diminished responsibility

Question 1

Define diminished responsibility

Answer 1

`A person who kills or is a party to the killing is not convicted of murder if he was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning, which arose from:

a) Reciognised medical condition
b) substantially impaired D’s ability to reciognise the nature and quality of his conduct.
c) form a rational judgment
d) excersize self control

Question 2

What act is DR set out by

Answer 2

Contained in the Homoside act and amended by the Coroners and Justice act s.52

Question 3

Who is the burden of proof on?

DR

Answer 3

The defendant must prove his innocence

Question 4

List all of the cases in DR

Answer 4

R v Byrne
Reynolds
Ahuwalia 
R v Martin 
R v sutcliffe 
R v dowds
r v deitchman 
r v gittens 
R v Egan 
r v tandy 
r v wood

Question 5

List the facts, law development and area of Bryne 1960

Answer 5

Facts: Man killed a girl in a youth hostel then mutilated her body. He claimed he had irrisistable impulses he was unable to control.
Ratio: Abnormality of mind was wide enough to cover the aspect of will power to perform physical acts in a rational judgement.
area: abnormality of mind
The byrne test is not needed to be applied to new law because the new law is more than efficient for psychiatric to evaluate mental functioning than mind.

What substantial impairment is

Question 6

List the facts, ratio and area of Reynolds 1998

Answer 6

Facts: D killed V with a hammer
Ratio: Not guilty of murder but invol
Area: Pre- menstural tension/ abnormality of mental

Question 7

List the facts, ratio and area of Ahuwalia 1992

Answer 7

Facts: D killed her husband whilst he was asleep
Ratio: she was suffering battered woman syndrome
area: abnormality of mental functioning

A02- she fits into coroners and justice act but didn’t fit into the last one, the act of DR is very similar to loss

Question 8

List the facts, ratio and area of Lloyd 1967

Answer 8

Facts: D strangled his wife and killed her
Ratio: Judges wanted to know what was acceptable for an impairment. The court should approach this in a broad common sense way, to what is more than min.
Area: Substantial impairment- more than minimal
A02/ the concept of more than minimal is subjective to the jury oppinion, however in the abcence of any new case authorities on this spesific point, it could be argued that the decision in this case will continue to imply this law.

Question 9

List the facts, ratio and area of R v Martin

Answer 9

Facts: Man shoots intruders on his drive as they leave.
Ratio: D not guilty of murder due to scitzophrenia
Area: abnormality of mental functioning

Question 10

List the facts, ratio and area of R v Sutcliffe

Answer 10

Facts: D charged of 13 murders to women
Ratio: In the interest of public policy the jury were left to decide if the defence of scitzophrenia was allowed.
Area: forming a rational judgment

Question 11

List the case names for intoxication relating to diminished responsibility

Answer 11

Gittens 
Egan 
Dietschman 
Tandy 
Wood

Question 12

List the facts, ratio and area of Gittens 1984

Answer 12

Facts: D beat wife to death, went home raped and killed his daughter
Ratio: D can benefit from DR if the actions of D would still of been performed sober due to abnormality of mental functioning.
area: intoxication

Question 13

List the facts, ratio and area of Egan 1992

Answer 13

Facts: D broke into elderly womans house and killed her
Ratio: Followed ratio in gittens and said can d prove he would of killed her if he was not intoxicated and can d prove DR at the time of the killing
Area: intoxicaton

Question 14

List the facts, ratio and area of Deitchman

Answer 14

Facts: D was suffering barievment after the death of aunt and killed a random woman
Ratio: reversed the rule in gittens and implied that abnormality of mind along side the consumption of alcohol will satisfy the judge to hand over to the jury.

Question 15

List the facts and law development in R v Tandy

Answer 15

Woman strangled her daughter to death after her daughter told of her step father sexually abusing her.
Ratio: Court of appeal held that for alcohol to produce an abnormality of mental functioning there must be BRAIN DAMMAGE so that there was a GROSS IMPAIRMENT and a craving for drink so much that the act is INVOLUNTARY

Question 16

List the facts and law development in R v Wood

Answer 16

D (an alcoholic) had been awaken by the victim performing oral sex on D so D repeatedly hit him with a sledge hammer.
Ratio: drinking is truly involuntary if the defendant could not of acted otherwise, giving into a craving or withdrawal symptoms is not enough to be involuntary
Law development: Judge stated that as a matter of practical reality, the bar the defendant is expected to submit before diminished responsibility is too high.
A02/LD this is because it is easier for a psychiatric to submit evidence if the defendant can not resisit impulse or has suffered brain dammage.

Question 17

List some of the criticisms of abnormality of mind from the complete criminal law

Answer 17

The complete criminal law suggested that:

1) it was vague and problematic in which abnormality of mind is not linked to a medical definition of mental illness
2) Is rigid because it excludes the killer who is compassionate and suffering a temporary mental imbalance such as depression as opposed to it actually impairing ability.

Question 18

List some criticisms of the law commission of abnormality of mind

Answer 18

diagnostic practice has long since developed a narrow range of “causes” under the law which has had no relevance to psychiatric definition- disagreement
The phrase substantially imapair MENTAL RESPONSABILITY has had no clear definition and juries have been confused whether this means moral responsibility or the effect on mens rea

Question 19

List some of the improvments in the law on dim resp

Answer 19

The law now explains that there must be a casual connection between AOMF and D’s conduct.
It facilitates psychiatricts to provide clearer evidence to court so juries can understand.

Question 20

Which cases come under the cause of abnormality of mental function

Answer 20

Reynolds

Aluwalia