Broadley v HMA, 1991 JC 108
Citation: Broadley v HMA, 1991 JC 108
Rule of thumb: If you repeatedly stab someone, can you argue that you did not intend for them to die & it was culpable homicide? No, multiple stabs can only be put to a jury as murder.
Judgment:
The basic facts were that a person stabbed a woman multiple times. The Court held that it was correct to direct the jury that they could not reach a verdict of culpable homicide for this – they were only allowed to decide whether the accused was guilty of murder or not. Some acts of violence are so grave that the question of culpable homicide cannot be put to the jury. “Wicked recklessness is recklessness so gross that it indicates a state of mind which falls to be treated as wicked and depraved as the state of mind of a deliberate killer... an attack of great determination involving the use of a lethal weapon ... with which repeated blows were delivered upon the body of the victim where death resulted from five stab wounds to the head and body suggesting an attack pressed on with great determination and there was no question of accident.”, 114 per LJ-C Ross
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.