Self-test questions: Capacity/denials

. Faye and Oliver went to the cinema and watched a scary movie. Faye had spent a large part of her day standing up and her muscles felt stiff when she watched the movie. At a particularly gruesome part of the movie she experienced a sudden leg cramp and kicked Oliver hard in his leg causing a red mark.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to denials of offences as it applies to this scenario?

. Arnie was keen to lose weight and had missed his evening meal before he went to the cinema. He managed to avoid treating himself to a tub of popcorn and a sugary drink during the movie. As a diabetic he had taken his insulin before coming out to the cinema. After the movie had finished, he went to leave the cinema and pushed Alicia, a cinema employee, to the floor and kicked her so hard she had extensive bruising to her abdomen for a couple of weeks. He claimed to have no recollection of the incident and medical evidence later confirmed that at the time of the attack he was in a hypoglycaemic state.

Which of the following statements is the most accurately reflects the law relating to denials of an offence to this scenario?

. On recent shopping trips Ethel (aged 80) had been scared by the presence of young men, who had looked at her in a threatening manner, or so she believed. On this occasion she put a long kitchen knife in her bag to protect herself, should she be attacked.

She had drunk a bottle of brandy to give her confidence to go out, but she was not used to drinking and it made her feel strange.

At the shop she saw Charles walking towards her. He was in fact leaving the shop. Imagining that he was brandishing a weapon, she stabbed him with the knife she had taken with her to the shops.

Charles suffered very serious injuries, but did survive. Medical opinion was that Ethel was very drunk at the time of the attack and most likely was not aware of what she was doing.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law as it applies to this scenario?

. Oscar is a diabetic and went on a coach trip with friends from his bridge club. He had forgotten to take his insulin that morning and had not taken a packed lunch on the coach as he expected that everyone would stop to eat at a motorway restaurant. He enjoyed much of the day, but as late afternoon approached, he became erratic and pushed over a passer-by, Sheila. He was totally unaware of this behaviour, and medical evidence suggests that at the time he pushed Sheila over he was in a hyperglycaemic state.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to incapacity defences as it applies to Oscar?

. Kingsley had a juvenile criminal record for a large number of theft offences; he had enjoyed the excitement of stealing. As an adult he had controlled his urge to steal and had stopped altogether. His friend, Jermaine, spiked Kingsley's drink with an intoxicant, hoping that Kinsgley would do something silly that Jermaine could post on social media. Jermaine wanted to beat his highest number of likes. Unaware that his drink had been spiked, Kingsley found himself stealing a number of items from a department store. He was caught as he left the shop.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to incapacity defences as it applies to this scenario?

. Darnell was at a party for the first time. His mum was very strict and normally he was not allowed out at night. However, on this occasion he sneaked out while she was asleep. He avoided drinking alcohol because he knew he needed to get home without his mum finding out he had been out. His acquaintance, Trevon, got him a drink, and without telling Darnell, he poured a large amount of vodka into it. Trevon did this several times and Darnell became very drunk. Darnell entered into an argument with Andre and attacked him by banging his head hard against the wall several times, causing his skull to crack.

Andre was in intensive care for a couple of weeks and his speech was permanently altered, so that he spoke much more slowly than he had before the attack.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflect the law on intoxication as it applies to this scenario?

. Darnell was at a party for the first time. His mum was very strict and normally he was not allowed out at night. However, on this occasion he sneaked out while she was asleep. He was not used to drinking, but decided to have rum and coke at the party. He did not keep track of how many drinks he had, and became very drunk, to the point where he could not remember what he did for much of that evening.

In fact, Darnell had an argument with Malik, and attacked him by banging his head hard against the wall several times, causing Malik's skull to crack.

Malik was in intensive care for a couple of weeks and his speech was permanently altered, so that he spoke much more slowly than he had before the attack.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflect the law on intoxication as it applies to this scenario?

. Shanice had a stomach ache and Nia suggested she take some of her prescribed tablets for a stomach problem she had. Desperate to feel better and assured by Nia that there were no side effects, Shanice took the pills.

After a couple of hours Shanice started to feel very strange and became enraged, a feeling that she could not control. She started to throw furniture at the walls causing damage to the walls and the furniture.

Which of the following statements is most accurate in respect of the law on intoxication and this scenario?

. DeAnna was a very annoying neighbour and had asked Richard to stop playing his music during the day, to not park his car so close to her house, and to wear more clothes when he used his garage gym with the door open. Richard wanted to teach DeAnna a lesson and decided he would throw paint at her front door during the evening. This was not the sort of behaviour he would normally do, so before he set off he drank a large amount of whiskey to give him the confidence to carry out his plan.

Once suitably drunk for the task, he went out and threw paint all over DeAnna's front door. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects Richard's criminal liability?

. Which of the following defence elements does not make up part of the defence of insanity?

. Precious suffered from epilepsy and cared for her grandmother. One day, suffering from a mild seizure caused by her epileptic condition, Precious kicked her grandmother, which resulted in her falling over and breaking an arm.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to incapacity defences as it applies to this scenario?

. Morris suffered from schizophrenia but was not diagnosed. He lived at home with his mother, who kept his strange behaviour a secret from the local authorities. One morning, Morris suffered a terrible delusion and with a knife he cut his mother's throat, believing that she was a loaf of bread.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to insanity as it applies to Morris?

. Morris is found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Which of the following orders can a judge not theoretically make in respect of Morris, following this verdict?

. Connor suffered from a paranoia disorder. He often imagined that people around him were spying on him and giving information to people that would kill him. His neighbour, Josie, often said hello to him in the morning, in a bid to be friendly. Connor became convinced that she was a spy and he would be killed if he she was able to live. He waited until she left her house and hit her with a hammer until she was dead.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to insanity as it applies to Connor?

. Trevor loved his wife very much but one day attacked her head with a hammer. She died from her injuries. Medical examination revealed that Trevor had suffered from a congestion of blood in his brain, and this resulted in a lapse of consciousness at the time of the attack. This problem was the result of a condition called arteriosclerosis, a physical-not mental-condition.

Which of the following answers refers to the correct case and its principle that applies to Trevor?

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