LS202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Blood Transfusion, Brain Death, Homicide
23 Feb 2017
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Causation in criminal law: murder, causes of death & issues in medicine. Defendant"s act doesn"t have to be the only cause of death. Must take victim as you find them . Normally, in first degree murder cases crown has to prove homicide was planned and deliberate . If you commit murder during one of the 4 cases (hostage, hijacking a plane, sexual assault, 4th) its first degree murder. Special case of s. 231 (5: murder is automatically first degree if death occurs in the commission, or attempted commission, of certain very serious offences. Seriousness of a first degree murder conviction warrants a stronger test than. Smithers: substantial causation test used instead (substantial and integral cause, crown must prove that the person played very active role in the killing (ex. sexual assault) An act that occurs between the accused"s actions and the victim"s death.
