General Rule: the act or omission must be voluntary on the part of the defendant
Hill v Baxter 1958:
If D has no control over his actions - not committed actus reus.
This case involved lorry driver who claimed to be acting involuntarily when he caused on accident as he was in 'trance-like state'
Judge said this did not count as 'involuntary action', but that the following could cause involuntary reaction whilst driving:
heart attack
being attacked by swarm of bees
being hit on head by stone
Examples of Voluntary Acts:
running
dancing
breathing
writing
Examples of Involuntary Acts:
heart beating
reflex actions
sneezing
Actus Reus and Mens Rea:
How Actus Reus proven in criminal case?
Forensics/ DNA/ Fingerprints
CCTV
Witnesses
Confessions
Experts (medical/ballistics)
Actus Reus and Mens Rea:
How is Mens Rea proven in criminal case?
explanations given at trial - by defendants, victims and witnesses
The actus reus is 'doing' element of a crime. Can have wider meaning that just a guilty 'action'.
Actus Reus can come in three forms:
Conduct Crimes
Consequence (Result) Crimes
Circumstance Crimes ('State of affairs')
Conduct Crimes --> are crimes where actus reus is prohibited conduct itself
s.5(a) Road Traffic Act 1988:
a criminal offence to drive whilst over alcohol limit
merely by driving with excess alcohol in your bloodstream is offence, no consequence (injury/ accident) required
s.170 Road Traffic Act 1988:
a criminal offence to fail to stop at the scene of an accident
merely driving away from an accident you caused, is an offence
Consequence ('Result') Crimes --> are crimes where actus reus must also result in consequence before it can be crime.
s.47 Offences against Person Act 1861:
must be application or threat of unlawful force which results in 'actual bodily harm' - injury must occur to V.
without injury there can be no crime
Circumstance ('Stance of Affairs') Crimes --> are crimes where actus reus exists when 'state of affairs' exists - meaning particular set of circumstances. Usually involve 'being' something rather than 'doing'
s.1 Prevention of Crime Act 1953:
crime being in possession of weapon in public place
D does not have to do anything with weapon, nor does it have to be visible. Is enough that he has it with him in public place.
Circumstance ('State of Affairs') Crimes - may involve being found guilty even though 'state of affairs' the defendant has found themselves in has not occurred voluntarily.
Winzar v Chief Constable of Kent 1983:
D was moved by police out of hospital and onto highway.
was then charged with 'being drunk on highway'
was guilty even though he was not there voluntarily
R v Larsonneur 1933:
d was deported to England by Irish authorities against he will. Was French citizen.
was the charged with 'being an illegal alien'
was guilty even though she was not in UK voluntarily
Omissions:
General Rule - omission cannot make a person guilty of an offence
an omission is failure to act. While general rule holds that an omission cannot make person guilty of offence. Are exceptions to this rule
An omission only sufficient for actus reus where there is duty to act.
Duty is only created in certain special situations.
Omissions:
Statutory duty
Special relationship
Contractual Duty
Voluntary assumption of responsibility
Creation of a dangerous situation
Official position
Duty by Contract:
when you are contractually obliged to be responsible for others - usually through contract of employment (e.g. lifeguard, NHS)
R v Pittwood (gate at level crossing)
DPP v Adomako (anesthetist and oxygen tube)
Duty by Creation of a Dangerous Situation:
if you have created dangerous situation you have responsibility to deal with that - e.g. if you start fire, call 999
R v Miller (homeless man, cigarette and mattress)
DPP v Santana -Bermudez (police search and needle in pocket)
Duty by Official Position:
when you have hold an official position, have a responsibility to look out for those for whom you are responsible
R v Dytham (police officer watched man get beat up)
Duty by Voluntary Assumption of Care:
if you have voluntarily accepted responsibility to care for someone else you must actually care for them, otherwise you will be guilty of offence
R v Stone and Dobinson (Aunt Fanny died of malnutrition)
R v Instan (lived with aunt or 12 days without feeding her)