mental capacity defences: automatism

Question 1

what is automatism?

Answer 1

occurs when the D’s mind had no control over the movement of their muscles or they had no awareness of what they were doing (Bratty)

Question 2

what governs automatism

Answer 2

Bratty

Question 3

automatism legal test

Answer 3

• D has a total loss of voluntary control
• it’s caused by an external factor
• if it’s self-induced, the rules of Bailey are applied

Question 4

explain: total loss of voluntary control

Answer 4

• D must have a total loss of voluntary control (Attorney General Reference (No.2 of 1992)
• if D has any awareness/control, the defence is unavailable (Broome v Perkins)
• D must be able to provide evidence of the automatic episode (Hill v Baxter)

Question 5

explain: external factor

Answer 5

• must be caused by an external factor (Hill v Baxter)
• if the D has a hypoglycemic episode, which results in a crime, the automatism defence is used (Quick)

Question 6

explain: self-induced automatism

Answer 6

• governed by Bailey
• specific intent defences: if D commits a SIO, self-induced automatism is a full defence, however if there’s an alternative basic intent offence with which the D can be charged, the D will be guilty of this as their decision to allow themselves to get into a self-induced state is reckless conduct that is sufficient to satisfy the MR
• basic intent offences: if D commits a BIO, the defence is unavailable for the same reason
• if automatism was not self-induced, the defence is available (Hardie)
• if it was caused due to voluntary intoxication, the defence is unavailable (Coley)