Chapter 4 Multiple choice questions

. Murder is the intentional unlawful killing of a human being. A killing can be unlawful where:

It is performed in self-defence.

It is performed through medical necessity.

It is performed in war time.

It is performed outside the ambit of any of the above.

. D injures a pregnant woman who goes into premature labour and her baby dies following birth from health complications due to prematurity. D will have committed murder of the baby where:

D intends to seriously injure a pregnant woman and the baby dies following birth.

D intends to seriously injure/kill the baby.

D intends to inflict minor harm on the mother.

D is reckless as to death/GBH on either baby or mother.

. The law allows a doctor to terminate life support to a patient when:

The patient wishes to die.

The patient has no quality of life and wishes to die by withdrawal of life support and a lethal injection.

The patient is a severely handicapped baby, and the parents wish to terminate his/her life.

The patient is in a persistent vegetative state and has no interest in being kept alive.

. A patient who is paralysed from the neck down expresses a wish to die by starvation. A doctor who accedes to this wish will:

Commit murder because of the precedent of Pretty [2002].

Commit the offence of assisted suicide.

Act in breach of Article 2 ECHR.

Commit no crime because there is a right to die by omission in accordance with the principles of Airedale v Bland [1993] provided the patient is competent to make this decision.

. The MR for murder is as follows:

Intention (direct or oblique) to kill or cause GBH.

Intention to commit GBH.

Direct intention to kill.

Recklessness as to death or GBH.

. D deliberately stabs V in the hand causing a wound. V does not seek medical attention when the wound becomes infected and dies. D will only possess the MR of murder if:

He intended to kill.

It was his purpose to inflict life threatening harm, but this would not be the case here.

He acted with either the purpose or foresight of a virtually certain risk of causing serious but not necessarily life-threatening harm.

He was reckless as to death or GBH.

. To which of the following offences would diminished responsibility apply:

Manslaughter

Grievous Bodily Harm

Assault

Murder

. Which of the following represents the ratio of Dietschmann [2003]?

That drunkenness alone can constitute an abnormality of mind.

That a drunken D's pre-existing mental abnormality must impair mental responsibility for the killing.

That both alcohol and brain damage can contribute to an abnormality of mind.

That a pre-existing abnormality must be the cause of the killing.

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

A killing through exhaustion.

A killing through desperation.

A killing due to a sudden and temporary loss of self-control.

A killing due to justifiable anger.

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

D will feel justifiably wronged, it will be reasonable for him to kill, and Loss of Control will succeed.

The case of Clinton [2012] states that sexual infidelity is to be taken into account in determining a thing done or said.

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.

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.

. 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:

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)).

Loss of Control will fail because of the delay.

Loss of Control will succeed because her actions were reasonable.

Loss of Control will fail because a delay automatically means the killing was premeditated.

. 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:

It is related to the gravity of the qualifying trigger (or provocation) (i.e.: if it was the subject of the provocation.).

It is reasonable to D to kill.

It can be argued that the mentally ill are entitled to be provoked.

It reduced D's powers of self-control.

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