Murder

Profile of homicide offenders

* Most likely male
* Approximately 35-49 years old
* Unemployed
* Likely to have at least one conviction for a prior offence (property, drugs, assault)

Profile of homicide victims

* Most likely male
* Average age of 39
* Employed or seeking employment
* Likely to have no prior convictions

Definition of murder

Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought, by a person who is the age of discretion (10 years and over) and of sound mind.

Elements of murder

Human

Unlawful

Malice aforethought

Sound mind

Age of discretion

Causation

Human

* The victim was a human being
* A person cannot be convicted for murder where the victim was an unborn baby or an animal

Unlawful

* The killing was unlawful
* Examples of lawful killing include:
* Use of death penalty
* In battle
* Acting in self defence, where a court accepts the action was reasonable

Malice aforethought

* Accused acted with malice aforethought
* Malice aforethought can include several states of mind
* An intention to kill (even if the victim is not the one the accused intended to kill)
* An intention to inflict serious injury, which resulted in death

Sound mind

* Accused is a person of sound mind
* This means that the accused understood the nature of their actions
* A person with a mental impairment (such as mental illness) may be considered unable to inform the intention to commit the crime (mens rea)
* That they did not know what they ere doing, or did not understand that their actions were wrong (e.g. schizophrenia)

Age of discretion

* 10 < Under the age of criminal responsibility, cannot be convicted
* 10 - 13: Will only be held responsible if the prosecution can prove that the child knew the difference between right and wrong and that they were committing a crime (otherwise they are declared doli incapax)
* 14+ Can be charged with a crime

Causation

* The accused’s act caused the victims death
* The accused’s action must have contributed ‘significantly and substantially’ to the death of the victim in order to prove causation
* There must be a direct or unbroken casual link between the actions of the accused and the death of the victim
* In order to determine causation:
* Would the death have occurred when it did without the actions of the accused?

Defences to murder

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* Self defence


* Mental impairment
* Duress
* Involuntary actions

Self defence

* The accused must believe that their actions were necessary to protect themselves or another person from death or really serious injury and that their actions were reasonable in the circumstances, as they perceived themselves
* If successful, claiming self-defence will lead to an acquittal

Mental impairment

* This defence may be used when a person suffered from a mental impairment at the time they committed the offence
* The offender:
* Did not know the nature of their actions
* Did not know that their actions were wrong and was unable to think about their conduct like an ordinary person
* The court will impose a custodial supervision order in these cases

Duress

* A person will be found not guilty if they committed the act under duress
* This applies if the accused had a reasonable belief that:
* A threat of death or really serious injury existed, which would be carried out unless the offence was committed
* Committing the offence was the only reasonable way to avoid threatened harm
* If successful, this defence will lead to an acquittal

Involuntary actions

* A person will not be found guilty of murder if their actions were involuntary and therefore, mens rea cannot be established
* The accused may be acquitted or found guilty of a lesser offence (such as manslaughter)
* The accused may state that their actions were involuntary due to:
* Intoxication
* Automatism
* Accident

Intoxication

* This defence can only be claimed if
* The offender was so affected by alcohol or drugs that they did not know what they were doing
* The intoxication was not self-induced e.g. involuntary, due to fraud, mistake, use of a prescription drug used according instructions, etc.
* The court will compare the actions of the accused compared to those of a reasonable person, intoxicated to the same extent as the accused

Automatism

* To use this defence, it must be proved that the accused’s actions were not controlled by their conscious mind
* This may include:
* While sleepwalking
* During an epileptic seizure
* While suffering concussion
* As a result of a medical condition or a side-effect of medication

Accident

* The accused may claim that they did not possess a guilty mind (mens rea), as the act causing death of the victim was an accident
* The accused will be found not guilty if this claim is accepted by the court