Class notes
Criminal Law Homicide Lecture Notes
- Course
- Institution
Really clear homicide notes including all cases
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
zoejohnstone
Reviews received
Content preview
Criminal Law Topic 4 – HomicideLecture 1 Homicide – Introduction:
- Murder and manslaughter are common law offences that have never been defined by a
statute – although they have been modified by a statute
- Murder
- Partial defences to murder / ‘voluntary’ manslaughter
- Involuntary Manslaughter
Lecture 2 Homicide – Murder:
- The actus reus of murder is the unlawful killing of another person in the Queen’s
peace
- Murder is a result crime – D's conduct must take place in particular circumstances and
cause a particular result: V’s death
- The actus reus is satisfied by any conduct that causes V’s death – the type of conduct
is irrelevant
- A murder can be committed by an act or by an omission: R V. Gibbins and Proctor
(1918) 13 Cr App R 134 (this is one of the rare cases of murder by omission)
- However, many cases of omission and killings where there is a duty to act have ended
up in manslaughter convictions – this may be due to a lack of intention to kill or cause
GBH via the omission
- With omissions, if there is difficulty in establishing mens rea for murder,
manslaughter, especially gross negligence manslaughter may be better
- Normal rules of causation apply: R V. Adams [1957] Crim LR 365 – it must be
shown that D accelerated or hastened the victim’s death by more than negligible
amount – we need a more than de minimis cause (Causation)
- For murder, the killing must take place in certain circumstances – V must be a person
and the killing must take place under the Queen’s peace
Necessary Circumstances:
1. A Person: (Human Life begins at birth)
- The victim of a homicide must be a human – foetuses or unborn children are not yet
persons in law and therefore they cannot be victims of murder or manslaughter
- Of course foetuses are protected in other ways before birth eg. The Offences Against
The Person Act 1861 Section 58 makes it an offence to procure a miscarriage /
Abortion Act 1967
- R V Poulton (1832) 5 C & P 329 - The crucial moment at which the foetus becomes
a human being is when the child is born alive. Also from Poulton the human must be
capable of independent respiration - although respiration (breathing) need not actually
have begun
,R V Poulton (1832) 5 C & P 329
Murder – Unborn foetus
Facts
A mother strangled her newborn baby, and was charged with the murder. Three medical men
testified before a jury that a child can die during the delivery, thus the fact that a child
breathes when it is born before it its whole body is delivered does not mean that it is born
alive:
“It frequently happens that a child is born as far as the head is concerned, and breathes, but
death takes place before the whole delivery is complete. My opinion in this case is, that the
child had breathed; but I cannot take upon myself to say that it was wholly born alive.”
Issues
The issue in question was when a foetus becomes a ‘human being’ for the purposes of murder
and manslaughter.
Decision/Outcome
An unborn child is incapable of being killed. A child is born only when the whole body is
brought into the world, but it is not sufficient that the child breathes in the progress of the
birth, as the child may die before the whole delivery takes place. For a murder or
manslaughter conviction, a child must be killed after it has been fully delivered alive from the
mother’s body. In this case the jury found the child not to be born alive, and therefore the
mother could not be guilty of murder. The case of A-G’s Ref (No 3 of 1994) [1997] 3 WLR
421 confirmed that an unborn foetus is not capable of being murdered, but a manslaughter
conviction can stand where the foetus was subsequently born alive but dies afterwards from
injuries inflicted whilst in the womb.
- R V. Senior [1832] 1 Mood CC 346 - this case creates problems with mens rea.
Accordingly, many our charged with manslaughter
- An example of the mens rea problems created by this type of cases can be found in
Attorney General’s Reference (No.3 of 1994) [1998] AC 245
Attorney General’s Reference (No.3 of 1994) [1998] AC 245
Child born alive then dying after pregnant mother stabbed – mens rea insufficient for
murder but sufficient for manslaughter
Facts
B stabbed his pregnant girlfriend, who then prematurely gave birth to S. S was wounded in
the stabbing and died after 121 days after being born prematurely. B was charged with
murder of S, but was acquitted after it was held that he could not in law be convicted of
murder or manslaughter as a result of harm done to a child in utero, and that there could be no
transferred malice of the intent to harm from the mother to the foetus.
, Issues
Under the Criminal Justice Act 1972 section 36 the Attorney General (AG) referred the case
to the House of Lords for a ruling on two issues, pertaining to the mens rea required by B to
be guilty of the child’s murder or manslaughter. The AG firstly asked whether unlawful
injury deliberately inflicted on a mother carrying a child in utero could constitute murder or
manslaughter when the child was born but subsequently died and the injuries inflicted caused
or contributed to death. Secondly, the AG asked whether death caused as a result of injury
directed not to the foetus but to the mother negatived liability for murder or manslaughter.
Decision / Outcome
B could be convicted of manslaughter but not of murder. B did not have the mens rea for
murder and the concept of transferred malice was inapplicable to the circumstances of this
case. However, B satisfied the three elements of unlawful act manslaughter: (1) he had the
sufficient mens rea of intention to do an unlawful and dangerous act of stabbing the mother,
(2) all reasonable people would recognise the risk that some harm would result, and (3) death
was caused by the act. The fact that the injury was not directed at the person who died as a
result did not negate liability for manslaughter.
When Does Life End?
- According to Re: A (A Minor) [1992] 3 Med LR 303 the law accepts the medical
definition of death: a person dies once she stops breathing, the heart stops pumping
blood and the brain ceases to function
- Death in law is brain death as confirmed in the case of R v. Malcherek and Steel
[1981] 1 WLR 690 - brain death is an irreversible condition involving the complete
non-functioning of the brain stem which controls reflexive functions of the body
- This account of death was accepted in Airedale NHS Trust V. Bland [1993] AC 789
where the court said that someone short of brain death, so in a persistent vegetative
state like Bland, is still alive and therefore is still a person capable of being murdered
– the same goes for patients who are in a coma
2. Unlawfully and in the Queen’s Peace
- Firstly, the killing has to be unlawful
- The killing will not be unlawful if, as in R V. Beckford [1988] AC 130, D was able
to rely on the defence of self – defence (also known as public or private defence)
- Secondly, it must be shown that the killing took place in the Queen’s peace – this
means that the killing of alien enemies during war and under battle conditions is not a
criminal homicide and a prosecution cannot be brought about
3. Mens Rea of Murder
- An intention to kill or cause Grevious bodily harm (GBH) - this was settled in R V.
Vickers [1957] 2 QB 664 and was later confirmed in R V. Cunningham [1982] AC
566
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller zoejohnstone. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.41. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
78677 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now