Deck 3: Homicide II: Voluntary and Involuntary Manslaughter

Question 1

To which of the following offences would diminished responsibility apply:

A) Manslaughter
B) Grievous Bodily Harm
C) Assault
D) Murder

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The significance of Byrne [1960] is as follows:

A) That an abnormality of mind included defects of will as well as other emotional and intellectual defects.
B) That to be suffering from a recognized medical condition D must not know what s/he is doing.
C) That juries must accept the medical evidence of psychiatric experts called to testify to D's mental condition.
D) That Battered Woman Syndrome is a form of abnormality of mental functioning.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following represents the ratio of Dietschmann [2003]:

A) That drunkeness alone can constitute an abnormality of mind.
B) That a drunken D's pre-existing mental abnormality must impair mental responsibility for the killing.
C) That both alcohol and brain damage can contribute to an abnormality of mind.
D) That a pre-existing abnormality must be the cause of the killing.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The loss of self-control test in Loss of Control is satisfied upon which two of the following;

A) A killing through exhaustion.
B) A killing through desperation.
C) A killing due to a sudden and temporary loss of self-control.
D) A killing due to justifiable anger.

Question 5

D kills his partner V because she confesses to an ongoing affair. Which of the following is correct?

A) D will feel justifiably wronged, it will be reasonable for him to kill and Loss of Control will succeed.
B) The case of Clinton [2012] states that sexual infidelity is to be taken into account in determining a thing done or said.
C) Sexual infidelity is disregarded as a thing done or said by s55(6) but can be included as part of the 'circumstances' in which D reacted and lost control.
D) The killing will not automatically be 'in a considered desire for revenge' under s54(1)(4) and should therefore be permitted as a qualifying trigger.

Question 6

D has been physically violent towards his cohabitee, V, for several years. In an argument one evening, he threatens to run her over. Whilst he is sleeping later that night, V attacks him with an axe and kills him. Which of the following applies:

A) Despite the delay, V may succeed with Loss of Control if she can show that she killed as a result of loss of self-control (s54(1)(a)) produced by a qualifying trigger such as fear of serious violence (s55(3)).
B) Loss of Control will fail because of the delay.
C) Loss of Control will succeed because her actions were reasonable.
D) Loss of Control will fail because a delay automatically means the killing was premeditated.

Question 7

D and V have a heated argument regarding the ownership of tools. D stabs V with a knife and kills him. D suffers from clinical depression. D's mental condition will only be relevant to the 'objective' test in Loss of Control if:

A) It is related to the gravity of the qualifying trigger (or provocation) (ie: if it was the subject of the provocation.).
B) It is reasonable to D to kill.
C) It can be argued that the mentally ill are entitled to be provoked.
D) It reduced D's powers of self-control.

Question 8

The unlawful act in manslaughter consists of which of the following:

A) Either a criminal or a civil wrong.
B) Either an act or an omission.
C) A crime by an intentional positive act.
D) A crime which does not need to be specifically proved or identified in the proceedings provided the unlawful act caused death.

Question 9

D aged 14 throws a brick at a young man (V) playing cricket with his son in a park. The brick causes minor injury. Twenty minutes later, V collapses and dies from a heart attack due to physical shock. How should the judge direct the jury on unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter?

A) The assault caused the death therefore D is guilty.
B) The question of danger is to be assessed according to D's belief.
C) All D needs to do is to commit an intentional offence which causes shock.
D) D must commit an intentional unlawful act constituting a crime which (1) must objectively carry the risk of some harm and (2) must be the cause of death.

Question 10

D supplies a class A drug to V, prepares a syringe, and hands it to V for immediate injection. V injects himself. Which of the following correctly states the law:

A) D has committed two unlawful acts: possession of a Class A drug and administration of it under s23 OAPA 1861 both of which are inherently dangerous. He is therefore guilty of unlawful act manslaughter.
B) V's self-injection is foreseeable and does not therefore break the chain of causation. D is guilty of manslaughter.
C) Both D and V were accomplices in an unlawful enterprise and therefore D is guilty of manslaughter.
D) D did not commit an unlawful act under s23 because he did not administer the drug or cause it to be administered or taken by V. D is not guilty of unlawful act manslaughter.