Murder

Question 1

What is homocide?

Answer 1

• unlawfully killing a reasonable person who is in being and under the King’s peace.
• different form of homicide but murder is the most serious.

Question 2

What is murder?

Answer 2

• unlawful homicide with malice aforethought
• carries a mandatoty life sentence - no discretion on judge

common law offence

Actus reus: unlawful, killing, human being, King’s peace
Mens rea: malice aforethought

Question 3

Actus reus: unlawful?

Answer 3

• killing must be unlawful.
• it will be lawful to kill another if:
  
  • killing enemy soldier in battle
  • advancement of justice (detah penalty)
  • self-defence (killing will be lawful where force used was reasonable and necessary to prevent crime)

Question 4

Actus reus: killing?

Answer 4

• Prosecution must show that D caused the death of V
• need factual and legal causation to be satisfied.
• Factual: ‘but for’ test - so but for the acts or omission of D, the relevant consequence would not have occured (R v White).
• Legal: D’s act must be the** substantial cause** of prohibited harm - substantial needs to be more than minimal (R v Hughes)

Question 5

Actus reus: human being?

Answer 5

• V must be ‘a reasonable person in being’
• not possible to murder corpse - been determined that the moment which brain dies, the person will be held to have died.
• “in being” means when born alive and capable of independent life
  
  • child must be fully expelled from mother’s body and born alive to be a being (no necessary for umbilical cord between mother and child to have been cut).
  • AG-Ref, pregnant woman was stabbed and child was born prematurely and died - held child was not a live person and therefore could not be murder.

Question 6

Actus reus: King/Queen peace

Answer 6

• held that an offender can be tried for murder wherever committed if he is a British subject and if not, murder was committed within England & Wales.

Question 7

What is the mens rea for murder?

Answer 7

• malice aforethought:
  
  • intention to kill (express malice)
  • intention to cause grevious bodily harm (implied malice)
• D does not need to have any malice nor does the act need to be premeditated

Question 8

Key principles of intention applies to murder?

Answer 8

• generally meaning of intention is left to common sense of jury
• direct intent is where consequence is what D, subjectively aims to happen
• where D’s aim and purpose in acting is something other than death or grevious bodily harm, juries are not entitled to find oblique intent unless:
  
  • death or serious injury was a virtual certainty as a result to D’s action and, (objective)
  • D appreciated that (subjective) R v Woollin

Motive is not the same as intention but can be used as evidence of intention