9:15 - 11:50 D Block Legal Studies
12:30 - 3:05 A Block Physical Geography
D Block Legal Studies - Today we will be looking at the Criminal Code of Canada and we will focus our attention on violent crimes - specifically the categories of homicide in Canada. We'll learn the difference between culpable and non-culpable homicide and examine the levels of murder (first and second degree) as well as manslaughter (voluntary and involuntary)…all done through an interpretive play involving my swivel chair, the floor and possibly a garbage can.
R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46
229 Culpable homicide is murder
(a) where the person who causes the death of a human being
- (i) means to cause his death, or
- (ii) means to cause him bodily harm that he knows is likely to cause his death, and is reckless whether death ensues or not;
(b) where a person, meaning to cause death to a human being or meaning to cause him bodily harm that he knows is likely to cause his death, and being reckless whether death ensues or not, by accident or mistake causes death to another human being, notwithstanding that he does not mean to cause death or bodily harm to that human being; or
(c) if a person, for an unlawful object, does anything that they know is likely to cause death, and by doing so causes the death of a human being, even if they desire to effect their object without causing death or bodily harm to any human being.
231 (1) Murder is first degree murder or second degree murder.
(2) Murder is first degree murder when it is planned and deliberate.
(3) Contracted Murder is Murder in the First Degree
(4) Murder of peace officer is Murder in the First Degree
(5) Murder while Hijacking, sexual assault or kidnapping is Murder in the First Degree
(7) All murder that is not first degree murder is second degree murder.
232 (1) Culpable homicide that otherwise would be murder may be reduced to manslaughter if the person who committed it did so in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation.
233 A female person commits infanticide when by a willful act or omission she causes the death of her newly-born child
234 Culpable homicide that is not murder or infanticide is manslaughter.
There is a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for being convicted of either first degree or second-degree murder. For first degree murder, life imprisonment comes with no possibility of parole for 25 years. For second degree murder, life imprisonment comes with no possibility of parole for a minimum of 10 years. There is no minimum punishment for manslaughter, meaning that it carries a very wide sentencing range. If a firearm is used, however, a mandatory minimum punishment of four years is in effect. Otherwise, there is only the maximum, which is imprisonment for life.
We'll look at R. v. Nette (2001) and answer questions 1-4 on the case together and to end the class.
The Nette case deals with "causation" and murder which helps with questions 3-4-5 on p. 221 which I'll have you work on as well. In terms of the Nette case and causation the citation states:
A 95-year-old widow who lived alone was robbed and left bound with electrical wire on her bed with a garment around her head and neck. Sometime during the next 48 hours, she died from asphyxiation. During an RCMP undercover operation, the accused told a police officer that he had been involved in the robbery and death. The accused was charged with first degree murder under s. 231(5) of the Criminal Code -- murder while committing the offence of unlawful confinement -- and tried before a judge and jury. At trial, he claimed that he had fabricated the admission. He testified that he had gone alone to the victim’s house only with intent to break and enter, that the back door to the house was open as though someone already had broken into the home, and that he left after finding the victim already dead in her bedroom. The trial judge charged the jury on manslaughter, second degree murder and first degree murder under s. 231(5) of the Code. In response to a request from the jury that he clarify the elements of first degree murder and the “substantial cause” test, the trial judge essentially reiterated his charge. Overall, he charged that the standard of causation for manslaughter and second degree murder was that the accused’s actions must have been “more than a trivial cause” of the victim’s death while, for first degree murder under s. 231(5), the accused’s actions also must have been a “substantial cause” of her death. On two occasions, however, once in the main charge and once in the re-charge, he described the standard of causation for second degree murder as “the slight or trivial cause necessary to find second degree murder” instead of “more than a trivial cause”. The jury found the accused guilty of second degree murder and the Court of Appeal upheld that verdict. The only ground of appeal both before the Court of Appeal and this Court concerned the test of causation applicable to second degree murder.
The Nette case deals with "causation" and murder which helps with questions 3-4-5 on p. 221 which I'll have you work on as well. In terms of the Nette case and causation the citation states:
A 95-year-old widow who lived alone was robbed and left bound with electrical wire on her bed with a garment around her head and neck. Sometime during the next 48 hours, she died from asphyxiation. During an RCMP undercover operation, the accused told a police officer that he had been involved in the robbery and death. The accused was charged with first degree murder under s. 231(5) of the Criminal Code -- murder while committing the offence of unlawful confinement -- and tried before a judge and jury. At trial, he claimed that he had fabricated the admission. He testified that he had gone alone to the victim’s house only with intent to break and enter, that the back door to the house was open as though someone already had broken into the home, and that he left after finding the victim already dead in her bedroom. The trial judge charged the jury on manslaughter, second degree murder and first degree murder under s. 231(5) of the Code. In response to a request from the jury that he clarify the elements of first degree murder and the “substantial cause” test, the trial judge essentially reiterated his charge. Overall, he charged that the standard of causation for manslaughter and second degree murder was that the accused’s actions must have been “more than a trivial cause” of the victim’s death while, for first degree murder under s. 231(5), the accused’s actions also must have been a “substantial cause” of her death. On two occasions, however, once in the main charge and once in the re-charge, he described the standard of causation for second degree murder as “the slight or trivial cause necessary to find second degree murder” instead of “more than a trivial cause”. The jury found the accused guilty of second degree murder and the Court of Appeal upheld that verdict. The only ground of appeal both before the Court of Appeal and this Court concerned the test of causation applicable to second degree murder.
To end the block we'll watch Law & Order episode # 10 from season 10 called Loco Parentis. From tv.com...After sanitation workers find a teenage boy's body, the investigation leads to a school bully who displays an avid interest in martial-arts weapons, and whose father bought the murder weapon. The killer's father is found to have helped foster his son's violent behavior, so the DA's office charges him with murder on account of depraved indifference.
The legal definition of In Loco Parentis is: A person who, though not the natural parent, has acted as a parent to a child and may thus be liable to legal obligations as if he/she were a natural parent.
In United States law, depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is a type of murder where an individual acts with a "depraved indifference" to human life and where such act results in a death, despite that individual not explicitly intending to kill. To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime'. Depraved indifference focuses on the risk created by the defendant’s conduct, not the injuries actually resulting.
The legal definition of In Loco Parentis is: A person who, though not the natural parent, has acted as a parent to a child and may thus be liable to legal obligations as if he/she were a natural parent.
In United States law, depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is a type of murder where an individual acts with a "depraved indifference" to human life and where such act results in a death, despite that individual not explicitly intending to kill. To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime'. Depraved indifference focuses on the risk created by the defendant’s conduct, not the injuries actually resulting.
A Block Physical Geography - Today we're going to start our new unit on gradation. We've looked at the process of building up the land through tectonics and energy from below. Now we'll focus on breaking down the surface of the Earth and today we cover "geomorphology". We'll look at some slopes on Google Earth. The United States Geological Survey has a good web page on Landslides here and the Atlas of Canada has a good site on Landslides in Canada.
You'll need to start work on the physical weathering questions in your week 8 package: definition of frost action, exfoliation, and pressure release jointing along with Next, we move on to chemical weathering. We'll take some notes down about carbonation (solution), oxidation, and hydration and fill in a chart on weathering types, rates, and their connection to climate conditions. Lastly you'll need to work on questions 2 & 5 from page 442 in your Geosystems text; questions 10, 12, 13, and 15 from page 442 of your Geosystems textbook (you can find the answers between pages 420-423 in the text) and finally questions 17, 20, and 21 from page 443 in the Geosystems text (you can find the answers between pages 423-427 in the text).
Karst topography and caves (think Guangxi province in China, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, and Arecibo in Puerto Rico) is connected to chemical weathering. If you go to the Geoscape Nanaimo webpage you can find some really good graphic and information about Karst on Vancouver Island (on the left hand panel look at "Our Rock Foundations" and you'll find the subsection on caves and karst).
For cool pictures of solution cave formations check out The Virtual Cave. Also if you wish to see these features "live" you could travel 40 kilometres south and go to the Horn Lake Caves. We'll watch the Planet Earth Cave episode. This will help you with the week 8 questions on Karst topography and solution cave formation. Check out the National Geographic article "Cave of the Crystal Giants" which is about Cueva de los Cristales, or Cave of Crystals, a limestone cavern with glittering selenite crystal beams discovered in 2000 nearly a thousand feet below ground in the Naica mine in northern Mexico.
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