Causation Flashcards
(8 cards)
What test is used to establish factual causation?
The but for test.
What question does the but for test ask?
But for the defendant’s actions, would the victim have survived?
What is the case example for factual causation?
R v White
Summarise R v White.
The defendant put poison in his mother’s drink out of hatred for her. She did die, however, she died of cardiac arrest rather than because of the poison. White wasn’t the factual causation behind his mother’s death seen as she would have died even if he hadn’t given her poison.
What test is used to establish legal causation?
The DeMinimis test.
What does the DeMinimis test state?
The defendant has to be more than the minimal cause of death of the victim however is not required to be the sole cause of death.
What case is used as an example for legal cause?
R v Pagett.
Summarise R v Pagett.
Pagett, 33, started a relationship with a 16 year old girl which quickly turned abusive. He also got her pregnant. When she ran to her parents to get away from him, he went after her, shot her father in the leg and kidnapped her at gunpoint. When the police got involved, he shot at them. Forced to shoot back, they consequently killed the girl. Pagett was the legal cause behind her death as he became more than the minimal cause when he provoked the police to shoot in their direction.
