Causation Flashcards
What is the formula for causation?
Factual cause + legal cause - intervening acts = causation
What is the rule for factual causation?
If “but for” D’s actions the consequence would not have occurred, then D is factual cause
Give the facts of Paget
D used his pregnant girlfriend as a human shield resulting in her death
Give the ratio of Paget
But for D’s actions V wouldn’t have died so D was liable
Give the facts of White
D poisoned his mothers drink but she had a heart attack before drinking it
Give the ratio of White
But for D’s actions V still would have died so factual causation fails
Define legal causation
D must be the substantive and operating cause of the consequence
Give the facts of Kimsey
D was involved in a high speed chase with a friend and lost control of her vehicle causing her friends to crash and die
Give the ratio of Kimsey
D must be more than a minimal cause of the consequence
What is the thin skull rule
You must take your victim as you find them
Give the facts of Blaue
D was a Jehovah’s Witness who had been stabbed and refused a blood transfusion
Give the ratio of Blaue
You must take your victim as you find them and will be liable for a more serious crime if that’s what their “thin skull” causes
What is an intervening act?
An act which breaks the chain of causation
Why is the sequence of causation regerred to as a chain?
Because it links the defendants act to the consequence
Give the three ways in which the chain of causation may be broken
- an act of a third party
- the victims own act
- a natural but unpredictable event
What is unlikely to break the chain?
Medical treatment
When may medical treatment break the chain of causation
Where it is so independent from the defendants actions and “in itself so potent in causing death” that the defendants acts are insignificant
Give the facts of Smith
D had been stabbed and was dropped on the way and given poor treatment which lessened his chances of recovery
Give the ratio of Smith
Held D would still be liable if he was still an operating and substantial cause of death
Give the facts of Cheshire
D had been shot but died 3 months later when the wound was virtually healed due to complications from a tracheotomy
Give the ratio of Cheshire
Chain of causation not broken, D was liable as his actions need not be the sole cause of death provided that his acts contributed significantly to the death
Give the facts of Jordan
V had been stabbed in the stomach and was given antibiotics that he was allergic to on two occasions he died the second time
Give the ratio of Jordon
The doctors acts were held to be an intervening act here
What did Malcherek and Steel establish?
Turning off the life support of a brain dead person is not an intervening act
