unit 1, section b: authorities

Question 1

who governs murder?

Answer 1

Lord Justice Coke

Question 2

murder: the D’s conduct causes the unlawful killing of a creature in being during the king’s peace

Answer 2

Lord Justice Coke

Question 3

murder: contractual duty (omission)

Answer 3

Pitwood

Question 4

murder: special relationship (omission)

Answer 4

Gibbons and Proctormurder:

Question 5

murder: voluntarily taking on a duty (omission)

Answer 5

Stone and Dobinson

Question 6

murder: chain of events (omission)

Answer 6

Miller

Question 7

murder: duty of an official position (omission)

Answer 7

Dytham

Question 8

murder: duty of a doctor (omission)

Answer 8

Bland

Question 9

murder: a reasonable creature in being is a human being that has left the mother’s womb and taken at least one breath

Answer 9

Poultermurder:

Question 10

murder: once a child is born they are still a reasonable creature in being even if the umbilical cord is not cut

Answer 10

Reeves

Question 11

murder: a foetus is not a creature in being

Answer 11

Attorney General Reference (No.3 of 1994)

Question 12

murder: the destruction of a foetus can be a criminal offence under the offence of child destruction

Answer 12

Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929

Question 13

murder: a person on life support with no brain activity is a reasonable creature in being, withdrawing life support does not break the chain of causation, as they’re dying from the harm the D caused them

Answer 13

Malcherek

Question 14

murder: there is no time limit on death after the unlawful act or omission, but where it is more than three years after the event, the consent of the Attorney General is needed for prosecution

Answer 14

Law reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act 1996

Question 15

murder: for the killing to be during the king’s peace, it must not be during war

Answer 15

Blackman

Question 16

murder: D committed the unlawful killing with malice aforethought, expressed or implied

Answer 16

Lord Justice Coke

Question 17

murder: it was the D’s aim or purpose to unlawfully kill a creature in being (direct intent to kill)

Answer 17

Mohan

Question 18

murder: it was the D’s aim or purpose to cause GBH (direct intent to cause serious harm)

Answer 18

Vickers

Question 19

murder: although the D did not intent to kill the V, it was virtually certain from their actions that death or serious harm would occur and they realised this (foresight of consequences)

Answer 19

Woollin

Question 20

diminished responsibility: what act governs this

Answer 20

S52 Coroners and Justice Act 2009

Question 21

diminished responsibility: was the D’s state of mind so different to an ordinary person that a reasonable man would consider it abnormal

Answer 21

Lord Parker CJ

Question 22

diminished responsibility: the AMF does not have to be permanent or present at birth

Answer 22

Gomez

Question 23

diminished responsibility: depression

Answer 23

Gittens

Question 23

diminished responsibility: irresistible impulses

Answer 23

Byrne

Question 24

diminished responsibility: battered wife syndrome

Answer 24

Ahluawala

Question 25

diminished responsibility: alcohol dependency syndrome

Answer 25

Stewart

Question 26

diminished responsibility: paranoia

Answer 26

Simcox

Question 27

diminished responsibility: adjustment disorder

Answer 27

Dietschmann

Question 28

diminished responsibility: schizophrenia

Answer 28

Moyle

Question 29

diminished responsibility: medical evidence is required of the RMC for a successful defence

Answer 29

Bunch

Question 30

diminished responsibility: if the medical evidence is uncontested, the murder charge is withdrawn from the jury

Answer 30

Brennan

Question 31

diminished responsibility: substantial impairment impairs the D's ability to understand the nature of their conduct

Answer 31

Stewart

Question 32

diminished responsibility: substantial impairment impairs the D's ability to form a rational judgement

Answer 32

Simcox

Question 33

diminished responsibility: substantial impairment impairs the D's ability to exercise self control

Answer 33

Byrne

Question 34

diminished responsibility: substantial impairment is more than the minimal/trivial cause

Answer 34

Lloyd

Question 35

diminished responsibility: there's a casual link between the AMF and the D's conduct/omission that led to the killing

Answer 35

S2(1) Homicide Act 1957

Question 36

diminished responsibility: the AMF must be the significant contributory factor for the D's conduct/omission that led to the killing

Answer 36

S1(B) Homicide Act 1957

Question 37

diminished responsibility with intoxication: if the D's conduct is due to intoxication and they have no AMF, the defence is unavailable

Answer 37

Dowds

Question 42

diminished responsibility with intoxication: if the D has an AMF, but it is unrelated to intoxication, disregard the intoxication and apply the test as normal

Answer 42

Dietschmann

Question 42

diminished responsibility with intoxication: if the D has an AMF that is related to alcohol dependency syndrome, apply the moderated test

Answer 42

Stewart

Question 42

diminished responsibility with intoxication: the D's drinking of alcohol doesn't have to be 100% involuntary and it does not have to have caused them brain damage

Answer 42

Wood

Question 43

diminished responsibility with intoxication: alcoholism

Answer 43

Wood

Question 44

diminished responsibility with intoxication: the jury must consider a number of factors in deciding whether the D's RMC has caused a substantial impairment

Answer 44

Stewart