What are the elements of the Act?
1.Conduct
▪ Commission: Positive conduct (X does something)
▪ Omission: Negative conduct (X fails to do something)
2.Voluntary
▪ Person must be capable of subjecting bodily movements to will or intellect
3.Human act/ omission
▪ Non human conduct can’t be criminalized
▪ However, a human can be punished if they commit a crime through the instrumentality of an animal
what is voluntariness?
- Conduct is voluntary if a person is capable of subjecting their bodily movements to their will or intellect
- Person must be capable of making a decision regarding their conduct and to execute this decision
- If conduct can’t be controlled by will, it is involuntary
Three Factors excluding voluntariness
How does absolute force exclude voluntariness?
A person’s ability to subject their bodily
movements to their will or intellect is prevented for example=. A strong external force prevents person from exerting their will or making voluntary bodily movements
Three factors excluding voluntariness
How does absolute impossibility exclude voluntariness?
This is when there is a complete failure or inability for a person to act
Three factors excluding voluntariness
How does **automatisim **exclude voluntariness?
Automatism is when a person acts in a mechanical manner
Sane Automatism
what is sane automatism?
Mentally sane person acts
involuntarily due to e.g epileptic fit
* Unconcious conduct NOT attributable to any mental illness
* ONUS OF PROOF: on State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that act was voluntary, BUT X has to lay a proper foundation for defence sufficient to create
reasonable doubt as to the voluntariness of act
* SUCCESSFUL: X leaves the court a
free person
eg. provocation or intoxication
Insane Automatism
what is insane automatism?
- Unconcious behavior attributable to
mental illness - Defence is one of mental illness
- ONUS OF PROOF: X has to prove on a balance of probabilities that he/she
suffered from a mental illness
*** SUCCESSFUL: **X must be dealt with in terms of section 78(6) of the CPA –
Not Guilty but will have to be detained in a psychiatric hospital –thus X does not leave the court a free person
How is the defence of automatism treated?
- Attitude of courts in respect of automatism is of GREAT CIRCUMSPECTION
- Evidence of mere loss of temper insufficient to infer automatic behavior
- X must lay proper foundation usually through EXPERT EVIDENCE
- Psychogenic amnesia-NOT automatism
Sane Automatism case law
What did the victor case state regarding antecedental liability?
Epileptic person drove and drove negligently as a result of a seizure
AL is where the liability of a person is assessed on their actions prior to the incident therefore the defence of sane automatism will not be sufficient
Sane Automatism
what are the facts of the Henry Case?
Sane automatism due to provocation
Accused + wife were divorced with children. The child wanted to spend the night with the accused and the deceased refused. Accused shot deceased+ her mother and used the defenece of Sane Automatism due to psychological amnesia
Sane Automatism
What did the Henry case state regarding sane automatism as a defence?
o Court held that psychogenic amnesia (inability to recall dramatic events) is not indicative of automatism because amnesia is not indicative of an accused’s of voluntariness
o Trigger mechanism that induces state of automatism must be of extreme nature and loss of temper isn’t enough
o trigger mechanism was absent, illustrating accused’s conduct was conscious at time of shooting
o accused’s defencewas rejected and he was convicted of murder
Sane automatism
what are the facts of the McDonald’s case?
- Accused was divorced from wife + went to get kids from wife’s house for visitation
-Accused did not pay maintenance and was confronted by the ex-wife’s boyfriend+ brother
-* In a fit of rage, M shot and killed his ex wife’s bf and injured her brother - M raised defence of automatism
Sane Automatism
How did the Mcdonald’s case deal with the defence of sane automatism?
Provocation
- Court held: defence of automatism should be approached with extreme caution
o Upheld notion that trigger mechanism for automatism must be extraordinary or severe
o In casu, accused’s actions were of conscious behavior and he didn’t act in state of sane automatism
o Thus defence was rejected and accused was convicted
Sane Automatism
what are the facts of the Marx case?
Psychogenic amnesia
- A and wife married for many years but had a complicated relationship
- A’s wife had been having an affair and A found out
- A’s wife emotionally abused him on a daily basis
- One day, after telling him that she was leaving him, A fetched gun and shot wife
- A was charged with murder and raised defence of sane automatism, alleging he had no recollection of what happened in moment he shot his wife
Sane automatism
what did the court in the Marx case state regarding the defence of sane automatism?
- Court held:
o Reiterated that triggering mechanism must be extreme nature and mere fact that the A blocked out bad memory doesn’t mean it was sane automatism
o A’s conduct = indicative of someone who knew what they were doing and fact that he couldn’t remember had no bearing on verdict of murder
Sane Automatism
what are the facts of the Eadie case?
Road Rage case
- Accused proceeded to assault decased with hockey stick
- While on trial on charge of murder, A raised defence of temporary non pathological criminal incapacity >from combo of severe emotional stress, provocation and measure of
intoxication> He couldn’t dstinguish between right and wrong
Sane automatism
How did the Eadie case deal with the defence of sane automatism?
▪ When A acts out in aggressive focused way, spurred on by anger or other emotion, they can still appreciate difference between right and wrong and still be able to direct and control their actions
-Accused’s defenence was rejected and he was convicted of murder
