Summary Involuntary Manslaughter PQ Notes

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER


a. Involuntary Manslaughter
- Definition: D causes death of V without intention to kill or cause voluntary harm to V
- Two types:
o Unlawful Dangerous Act Manslaughter (UDAM)
o Gross Negligence Manslaughter (GNM)

b. Unlawful Dangerous Act Manslaughter
- Requirements
1. D committed an unlawful act
2. Act was objectively dangerous
3. Act caused the death of V

bi. Unlawful Act
- Unlawful act must be a criminal offence; civil offence will not suffice (R v Franklin)
- Usually the “unlawful act” is an offence against the person

R v Lamb
 D shot his friend with a gun he thought was unloaded
 D was not convicted of manslaughter here as no unlawful act committed; neither battery
nor assault
 Held that criminal offence requires subjective fault, cannot be based on negligence

R v Kennedy
 D gave V heroin  she self-injected
 D charged with UDAM
 Held that there was a break in chain of causation, as V made free, deliberate and
informed choice to self-inject  D did not commit unlawful act

R v Dhaliwal
 D abused wife until V hung herself
 D charged with UDAM, based on psychiatric illness of wife
 Wife was dead and thus could not prove psychiatric illness  no unlawful act

bia. Must be an Act and not an Omission
- In cases of omission, use gross negligence manslaughter instead

R v Lowe
 Child was ill but D opted not to bring the child to a doctor
 Unlawful act was said to be child cruelty
 Held that the defendant needed to actively contribute toward the cause of death
 Child cruelty for this would need actual committal of an act rather than by omission

bib. Act Must be Objectively Dangerous
- Objective test, no benefit of hindsight

R v Church