If it could be proven that a death caused by hitting someone with a car was intentional, say for example with CCTV footage showing the car swerve to hit the person, would it be possible to charge the driver with murder?
I’m mainly interested in how the law applies in the UK, but information on other countries would be interesting too.
The reason I ask is because a co-worker was found dead on the way to work today, by the side of the road. She would have been walking to work, so on the pavement (so I’m assuming the car mounted the pavement, for whatever reason). It was hit and run btw.
The latest news update (from the local papers website) states that injuries are consistant with being hit by a car, but a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. To my knowledge (which, in things legal is admittedly limited) this situation would call for a charge of ‘death by dangerous driving’, based on news reports of deaths following drink driving etc. Is it just poor information on the papers part?
P.S. - Don’t feel obliged to just post in this thread to offer condolences, I barely knew the woman so I don’t expect it, and don’t mind if you don’t post them.
I believe in the UK there must be intent for a murder charge. So it would take someone deliberately running someone down. In the US I vaguely remember there being a possibility of a murder charge in DUI cases in some states.
I don’t think it’s very unusual for people who intentionally drive their cars over others to be convicted of murder in the British criminal justice systems: example.
In order to support a murder charge, the facts need to demonstrate an element of intent, specifically what the common law called “malice.” While this is normally equated with the intention to kill or cause great bodily harm, malice is also present when the killing is the result of “depraved indifference to human life,” or of the commission of a dangerous felony.
Assuming that the relevant jurisdiction still incorporates these rules in its homicide statutes, a murder charge can be sustained if, for example, the driver was fleeing a crime scene, or swerving onto the pavement for the hell of it, knowing that the victim was there.
In the second link I gave, the driver was fleeing a crime (the report says something about a police car chasing but I don’t think it was very close behind). Apparently there was a murder charge but it was withdrawn after 2 days of legal discussion. That was in Scotland, perhaps the common law would be different in other parts of the UK (“death by dangerous driving” and all other statutory driving offenses are the same across the UK).
I understand that England does not recognize the American variations of “extreme reckless conduct” (aka depraved indifference to human life) as a theory to charge 2nd Degree Murder. However, again as I understand it, they do recognize a theory of “implied intent” when the action is virtually certain to cause grevious bodily harm or death.
This story was in the Sydney papers a couple of days ago, and relates to an incident from last year. The woman is alleged to have deliberately run down a man with her car. The report relates to her commital hearing. She has been charged with murder.
Murder convictions using a car are not easy to prove, however from time to time it happens.
Last on I remember was some git who drove a car straight at police and killed the officer.
Convictions on Death by dangerous drving seems to have become more used, and the prison terms seem to be greater.
Personally, I think anyone who drives in a deliberately reckless manner when trying to avoid arrest should be charged with attempted murder - you’ve seen these gits on tv on the police traffic shows. I still find it hard to believe the scumbags only get chraged with reckless driving given just how lethal their attempts to escape appear.
Yes there is something called Gross negligent manslaughter (since the case of Adomako [1993] 4 All ER 935, where if the defendants conduct was far below what could have been expected of a reasonable man in the circumstances, and there was knowledge of a risk of death or serious injury the defendant could be charged with manslaughter.
For murder a defendant needs to have intended to have killed to victim or to cause grivieous bodily harm. If the facts are such than the guy could definatly be charged with murder.
3)Causing death by Dangerous driving is really two offences; firstly casuing death where the standard of driving was far below that of a reasonably competant driver in those circumstances and second where the driver is intoxicated even a slight mistake which causes death is enough.
There was a case in the eastern US in the last couple of years where a woman was convicted of murdering her ex-husband by running him over with her car. IIRC, she tried to claim that she had run him over by accident, but the forensic evidence showed that she had also backed over him a couple of times for good measure.
In New York (and most US states), one can be charged with murder by acting with “depraved indifference to human life.” This refers to an act that goes beyond mere recklessness, but is something like randomly firing a gun into a crowd of people that may not have the intention of killing someone, but is so extremely risky it is tantamount to intentional murder. My understanding is that the “depraved indifference” standard is taken from the historical English common law, though I don’t know if it still remains English law.
Some US prosecutors. including the prosecutor of Nassau County on Long Island just outside New York City, have taken to charging some drunk drivers who cause fatalities with murder by depraved indifference, as shown in this recent 60 Minutes report.
Cheers for the info guys. It’s cleared up a bit confusion now!
I doub’t unless there’s decent CCTV evidence (which I don’t think there is) there would be any chance to prove the driver aimed for her. I just can’t understand how she’d came to be in front of the car, he must have mounted the pavement or something.