I’ll make sure you never hassle him again”. Fred replies: “Get stuffed”. John states:

“My big brother is going to teach you a lesson. Hit him, Keith!”

Keith punches Fred in the face, and Fred falls to the ground bleeding profusely from the nose. John says to Keith: “Let’s get out of here”. Keith replies: “No way, I’ll really teach him a lesson!” Keith pulls out the hammer from his jacket, and hits Fred repeatedly in both knees. John and Keith leave the house, with Fred screaming in pain.

Discuss the criminal liability (if any), including any relevant defenses, of John.

Case 22

Luke is a 30 year old man and has recently been released from jail after serving a sentence for the crime of aggravated assault. Prior to going to jail, Luke was a karate black belt. While in jail, Luke decided to ‘change his ways’ ..

After his release from jail, Luke decides to attempt reconciliation with his ex-wife, Fiona.

While Luke was in prison, Fiona divorced him and is in a relationship with David. Fiona and David live together.

After finding out where Fiona and David live, Luke decides to confront Fiona and profess his love for her, in the hope that she will renounce David and return to him. Luke arrives at

Fiona’s house at 9.00am on a Saturday morning, and knocks on the door. Fiona opens the

door, and Luke states:

“Fiona, I am a changed man since I went to jail. I have become a Buddhist and renounced my criminal ways. I love you. Please give me a second chance.”

David overhears Luke’s words, and comes to the door. He shouts at Luke:

“Fiona doesn’t love you. You are nothing but a jail bird loser. I bet you slept with the jail warden to get early release, and slept with all the other men in the jail! You call yourself a Buddhist? Everyone knows that isn’t a religion, and the Dali Lama is a fraud!

David slams the door in Luke’s face. Luke walks back to his car, thinking about what David has said to him. He knows that to be a good Buddhist he should ‘turn the other cheek’ and ignore what David has said. However, Luke also remembers the words of his kung fu master, who told him “never back down”.

Luke, angry that Fiona is living with a narrow minded bigot like David, picks up a heavy statue of Buddha he keeps in his car, and walks back up to the house. Luke knocks on the door. When David opens the door, Luke hits him as hard as he can on the head with the statue. Dazed from the blow to the head, David staggers into the street in front of his house and is hit by a passing garbage truck whose driver is busy sending a text message rather than watching the road. David is killed.

Discuss the criminal liability (if any), including any relevant defenses, of Luke for the death of David.

Case 23

Sarah owns and operates a two storey boarding house, where a number of intellectually disabled adults live. Sarah does not live in the house, but attends the boarding house regularly, including cooking meals for the residents who cannot cook. Sarah lives in a house a short distance away. Meals are served to residents in a common room. Billy is a 25 year old man who has the intellectual capacity of a 6 year old and receives a disability pension. Billy’s parents are not alive, and the only friends he has live in the boarding house. Payment for Billy’s rent is directly debited from his bank account.

After seeing a television program about obesity, Billy decides to “go on a diet” and stop eating. Billy stops coming to meals at the boarding house. Sarah notices he is absent from meal time. Sarah considers it “strange” that she hasn’t seen Billy, but does not make any enquiries with the residents about Billy, as she has pressing problems with the Tax Department. Due to her financial problems, Sarah is depressed, and takes anti-depressant medication.

One evening, Sarah receives a phone call from a resident of the boarding house, stating that Billy is very sick and won’t leave his room. Prior to receiving the call, Sarah has had two glasses of wine, and taken her anti-depressant medication. Sarah has also inadvertently taken too much medication. She walks to the boarding house, to check on Billy. Sarah knocks on Billy’s door, and when he does not answer, uses her key to open the door. She sees Billy lying on his bed, frail and unconscious, but breathing. Sarah is not sure what to do, and decides to go downstairs to think whether she should call an ambulance, or try to give Billy food and water herself. However, after walking downstairs,

Sarah starts to hallucinate, hearing voices which tell her:

“You must get out of the house! Billy is the devil! You must get away!”

Sarah runs to her house, goes inside and falls asleep. The next morning, one of the other residents of the boarding house enters the open door of Billy’s room. Billy is dead.

Discuss the criminal liability (if any), including any relevant defenses, of Sarah for the death of Billy.

End of Examination Paper