SS8 Ch10 · Homicide is the ending of life of another ? Can be legal or illegal · Mallet · D fought with his neighbor V and punched him, causing him to fall on a paving stone and die - ordinarily this would just be battery but it was manslaughter even though it was found that D was not at fault for causing V's death "A homicide must contain the following elements: (a)The victim must be a human being. (b)Death must be caused through the act or omission of one or more human beings, or exceptionally by a corporation or other organisation. (c)Death must occur within the Queen's peace." 10.2 Defining Homicide · Who is human? · Life at birth In A-G's reference (no.3 1994) HL obiter confirmed that life begins once birth occurs and existence is separate from the mother for however a brief amount of time . D stabbed E, pregnant women, causing V, child, to be born prematurely and die 4 months later Transferred malice would be going to far to from E->foetus->child . D charged with constructive manslaughter - dangerous criminal act causally associated with death
Infant Life Preservation Act 1929: termination of late term foetus isnt considered homicide unless the foetus took a breath outside of the womb Social factors at more play than biological factors here Post-natal death after pre-natal injuries Bland · Death ? Re A (A minor) ? Senior . Midwife didnt supervise birth correctly leading child to die - charged with manslaughter by gross negligence A-G's reference (no.3 1994) also confirms pre- natal injuries that cause death after birth constitute the actus reus . But mens rea is hard to prove if the foetus isnt a person - D doesn't intend to injure a person per se 3 Law Lords assumed brain death constituted death - But anything less than brain dead like a permanent coma or Vegetative state does not count as death First instance ruling that brain death, was for legal purposes, death *(civil case) · Causation in Homicide . Paggett - pregnant women used as shield case - D was causally responsible and Lord Goff said police action was regarded as 'involuntary' but is that really true
. Strong moral reason for holding D accountable . If, because of D's conduct, T does not intervene freely, D remains causally responsible for V's death. Field and Rebelo prove that not all interventions by the victim will be free and informed, even if they are deliberate · Dhaliwal V commits suicide after extensive physical abuse by D, CA open to argument that D caused V's death and V was not FDI . Wallace (Gf acid on bf suicide case): left up to jury to decide whether D had caused Vs suicide · Acts, omissions, and homicide ? D fails to feed her step-daughter V, causing her to Gibbins and starve to death; Her omission to feed V constituted homicide Proctor Pittwood Railway worker omits to close the gate, leading to