Defence of Non Pathological Incapacity - Criminal Law - Past Paper, Exams of Criminal Law

Download Defence of Non Pathological Incapacity - Criminal Law - Past Paper and more Exams Criminal Law in PDF only on Docsity! UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, PIETERMARITZBURG EXAMINATIONS: MAY 2011 SUBJECT COURSE AND CODE: CRIMINAL LAW (LAWS2CR) (LAWS3CR) DURATION: 3 HOURS + 30 minutes additional time TOTAL MARKS: 100 ________________________________________________________________ External Examiner: Professor G Kemp Internal Examiners: Professor SV Hoctor Mr A Ramdhin ________________________________________________________________ STUDENTS ARE REQUESTED, IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS TO WRITE LEGIBLY. _______________________________________________________ PLEASE NOTE: This paper consists of (5) pages. Please see that you have all the pages ________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Please note that all sections must be answered. You must answer all questions in Section A, one out of two questions in Section B and two out of three questions in Section C. 2. Answer Section A and B together and Section C in a separate book. 3. Please note the marks allocated for each question and apportion your time accordingly. 4. Please note that you must refer to any relevant case law in answering questions. ________________________________________________________________ UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, PIETERMARITZBURG EXAMINATIONS: MAY EXAMINATIONS SUBJECT COURSE AND CODE: CRIMINAL LAW (LAWS2CR) (LAWS3CR) PAGE 2 ______________________________________________________________________ SECTION A – (40 MARKS) PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS SECTION MUST BE ANSWERED Question One (20 marks) Thabo Xholisa is a 19 year old, first year BCom student at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. Thabo’s father died of AIDS when Thabo was 14 years old and since then he has lived with his mother and her alcoholic boyfriend, Zola. Zola abuses Thabo and his mother both physically and verbally. Zola is also unemployed and he is financially dependant on Thabo’s mother who is employed as a domestic worker. In order to pay for his University tuition, Thabo has several part time jobs. This leaves Thabo exhausted and stressed such that he is often unable to make it to lectures on time. To make matters worse, Thabo’s girlfriend, Lindiwe, has recently broken up with him. All of these problems have had a profound effect on Thabo’s studies and he is on the verge of failing his Accounting module. Determined not to give up, Thabo decides to attend all of his Accounting lectures in the morning. One day, during an early morning Accounting lecture, a certain person (Bongani) opens the back door of the lecture venue, starts spraying pepper spray on students at the back of the lecture venue and then tries to run away. Thabo, who was sitting at the back of the lecture venue, starts chasing after Bongani. Thabo eventually catches him but Bongani starts taunting Thabo, telling him that he has AIDS and Bongani then spits in Thabo’s face. This behaviour infuriates Thabo and he then grabs a pocket knife and stabs Bongani in his neck three times thereby killing him instantly. Thabo is charged with the murder of Bongani and he approaches you for legal advice. You are required to advise Thabo on whether he can successfully raise the defence of non-pathological incapacity based on provocation and emotional stress. NB: In answering this question, you must, at the outset, explain what is meant by ‘actus reus’ and ‘mens rea’ and you must set out all of the elements of criminal liability. Question Two (20 marks) Eddie Van Schalkwyk is a passionate Springbok rugby supporter. Eddie has high hopes that the Springboks are going to win the Tri-Nations and he buys tickets to watch the Springboks playing against the All Blacks (New Zealand). Eddie also takes a bet with one of his work colleagues that the Springboks are going to win. Eddie is over the moon when the Springboks are leading 21-19 with only 2 minutes left on the clock. However, his mood quickly changes when New Zealand flyhalf, Dan Carter, kicks a drop goal thereby ensuring victory for the All Blacks and denying the Springboks the Tri-Nations crown. After the match, Eddie decides to drown his sorrows at a nearby pub. Eddie consumes a large quantity of alcohol and becomes so intoxicated that he can no longer stand. Eddie overhears another rugby supporter (X) talking about how useless the Springboks are, and he takes an empty beer bottle and hits X hard over the head with the bottle two times thereby causing the bottle to break. He then takes the broken bottle and stabs X two times. Eddie is charged with the murder of X. In his defence, Question 2 …/