involuntary manslauter

Question 1

define involuntary manslaughter

Answer 1

The unlawful killing where the defendant did not have the necessary intention for murder.

Question 2

What are the 3 categories to manslauter

Answer 2

Constructive act manslauter
gross negligence manslauter
reckless manslauter

Question 3

What are the 3 actus reus elements required for unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 3

Commit an unlawful act
act must be dangerous
act must of caused the death

Question 4

what are the 6 cases involved in unlawful act excluding causation

Answer 4

Church, JM and SM, Watson, Birstow Dunn and delay, Larkin and Mitchell

Question 5

List the facts and law in the case of JM and SM

Answer 5

JM and SM started a fight with some bouncers, the bouncers artery burst and he died of a heart attack.

The law stated that the defendant need not foresee a type of harm but some level of harm

Foresee some harm

Question 6

State the facts and law in Watson

Answer 6

Two defendants threw a brick into an old mans house in attempt to burgle him. They then attacked him and he died of a heart attack.

The law stated that the burglary was dangerous and that it became dangerous when D’s seen the ‘condition’ ie fragile state the old man was in.

Type of harm

Question 7

State the facts and law in Burstow, Dunn and Delay and the area

Answer 7

D’s attempted to burgle a mans workshop, knowing that he would try to stop them, they ran him over killing him.

The law stated that knowing there was going to be someone try and stop them, the reasonable person would realize some risk of harm.

Type of harm

Question 8

State the facts in Larkin and the law and area

Answer 8

D pointed a knife and his wifes lover, she was drunk and fell onto the knife cutting her neck.

It does not matter whether the victim was the person you intended to harm.

Unintended victim

Question 9

State the facts of Mitchell and the area and law

Answer 9

D started a fight with a man in a post office, the man fell onto a lady who fell and died.

The case backs up larkin

Unintended victim

Question 10

List the cases included in the element of causation for involuntary manslaughter

Answer 10

Legal- pagette and white
factual- kimsey
think skull rule- blaue
victims own act- roberts, williams and davis

Question 11

Explain novus actus intervenes

Answer 11

If there is a break in the chain of causation then the unlawdul act has not caused the death and so D is not guilty of unlawful act manslauter.

Question 12

What are the 3 cases used to illustrate novus actus intervenes in involuntary manslauter

Answer 12

Cato 1976
Dalby 1982
Kennedy 2007

Question 13

Explain the facts and ratio of Cato

Answer 13

D and V both prepped injections of heroin and injected eachother, killing V.
Held: D prepping the injection and giving it to V is not a novus actus interveneous

Question 14

Explain the facts and ratio of Dalby

Answer 14

D supplied a drug to V. V injected himself with heroin. D was not convicted because it was not the act of supplying but the act of V injecting himself that caused the death.

Question 15

Explain the facts of Kennedy 2007

Answer 15

D pepped an injection for V, to which V injected himself. It was held on appeal D not guilty because V injecting himself was the intervening act.

Question 16

What are the two cases for the mens rea of involuntary manslauter

Answer 16

Newbury and Jones

Le Bruh

Question 17

Describe the facts and ratio of Newbury and Jones

Answer 17

Two 15 year olds threw a pathement slab off a bridge, it landed on a car killing the driver. D’s not guilty because they didnt foresee the harm.

Question 18

Describe the facts and ratio of Le Bruh

Answer 18

D dragged wife into a house and fractured her skull and died. D convicted of manslaughter because the original act was not the direct cause of the death but both were part of the same sequence of consequences.

Question 19

Define gross negligent manslauter

Answer 19

When someone dies as a result of the negligence of another person

Question 20

Describe the actus reus of gross neg

Answer 20

-Must be a duty of care
-A breach of the duty
-Breach must cause the death
Negligence must be ‘gross’
-Must of been a risk of death

Question 21

What is the leading case in gross Neg

Answer 21

Adomako established the actus reus

Question 22

Which case established that the negligence must be gross

Answer 22

Bateman

Question 23

List the facts and ratio of Bateman

Answer 23

A doctor removed a womans uterus during childbirth. Ratio: In order to establish criminal liability the evidence must be proven to the jury that D’s actions went beyond showing diseguard fo the life and safety of another person.

Question 24

What did the case of adomako follow and establish as well as the AR of gross neg

Answer 24

Approved the case of Bateman and said that the disreguard for life, health and safety is for the jury to decide.

Question 25

List all of the cases involved in gross neg

Answer 25

Causation and Omissions

• Bateman
• Finley
• Edwards
• Adomako
• Misra and Srivastava

Question 26

Describe the facts of Finley

Answer 26

D a scout leader, took a group up a mountain and one child fell and died. D did not take the neccesary safety pocedures.
D was still aquitted

Question 27

Describe the facts of Edwards

Answer 27

Let their children play on a railway line and died.

D’s found guilty

Question 28

Describe the facts of Misra abd Sivastava

Answer 28

Ds, doctors who had been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the deaths of patient.
They argued the test of “risk of death” was unclear and took it to the court of human rights

Question 29

Desribe the law on mens rea for gross neg

Answer 29

Gross neg is based on the idea that there is no mens rea to commit the crime

Question 30

Describe the facts of Lidar

Answer 30

Defendant, was in the driver seat of his car in a pub carpark when the victim lent through the passenger window and a fight started. Defendant drove off with the victim still half in the car and the victim got his feet caught in the rear wheel and died. The trial judge referred to recklessness in his direction to the jury and the defendant was convicted.